Good Morning, Friend

Wetherby 'through the card'

Below you can find a few musings for today's card from Wetherby. One of my members' is off racing and asked me to have a look, the same chap who went to Cheltenham last Friday. That one went well, with x3 winners, hopefully the same again, although it looks a challenging day... in any case, do with the below as you please, even if the all fall out the back of the tv, there may be a few stats, inc trainers in form, worth noting for the coming days...

Wetherby ‘Through The Card’

As requested by new lucky charm Paul, we’ll see how long it lasts!

1.10 – Piaff Bubbles – 3/1

1.45 – Gelino Bello – 1/2

2.20 – Parisencore – 7/2

2.55 – Mr Freedom – 4/1

3.30 – Into Overdrive – 4/1

4.05 – Obsessedwithyou – 7/2

4.35 – Ukantango – 11/10

Notes…

In general this is a nightmare of a card from a punting perspective (getting my excuses in early) , packed with unexposed horses within their code/handicaps, plenty making seasonal returns with educated/guessing over fitness, and so on. I can’t say I’ve flagged the above with much confidence but fingers crossed for a winner or three, sadly nothing at big prices…

Piaff Bubbles – unexposed, ‘could be anything’ (could be rubbish) but does arrive here fit, stepping up in trip on handicap debut which looks sure to suit. He was never put into the race last time, for all he does still look a bit gawky/mentally immature – which may not be a great thing for a 3s shot! Still, the Menzies team are going well and they have a decent record at Wetherby – 4/17, 9p all runners the last year, 4/13,6p all handicap hurdlers in the last 5, +10.

It is moderate stuff – I did ponder Amber Gold for a time, could be better this season, I thought the booking of Brendan Powell was interesting (1/1 for the yard, not sure if Owner driven). Yard going well, also run Pileup. Guessing over fitness for the former. All of these are open to stacks of improvement but the Menzies horse will do for me, shapes if he’ll devour this step up in distance.

Gelino Bello – a race to watch I think. If this one stands up he should win based on his hurdles form and receiving weight from Press Your Luck. In this 3 runner race, with time and space, he has no excuse not to get round/jump well. Press Your Luck hasn’t done much wrong and could make him work for it, before his class comes to the fore. Still, if you’re track side, I suppose £2 on Press Your Luck, to pay for a pint if he somehow wins, may be the way forward!

Parisencore – another minefield of a race, again everything open to bundles of improvement this season. Nicky Richard’s gelding hasn’t been out the top 2 on his last 8 starts and I thought everything pointed towards a big run here. I suspect he’ll be fit. The yard form is a big plus… 6/15, 9p +14 in the last 30 days. Much of his form looks solid and he races prominently. I suspect he’ll give this a good go.

Osprey Call is interesting but the yard have yet to get firing. Maybe he’ll kick things off. Name In Lights is obviously enough but the selection is a bit more handicap battle hardened, while also open to improvement. They could be battling it out.

Mr Freedom – well, a guessers race really, all lightly raced, in-form juveniles who have been hacking up. On ‘the figures’ Mr Freedom hasn’t done much wrong and has a bit more jumping experience than the others, which I suppose swung it. I thought 4s looked big here but it could be run at a crawl>sprint, and I don’t know who that would favour. None of them have done much wrong, this will tell us something about their relative form.

Into Overdrive – Given its a decent pot up for grabs I’d like to think this one will be ready here. He didn’t do much wrong when bringing up his hat-trick in April, and there’s a chance he’s better treated than some of these. He appeared to appreciate a switch to more forceful tactics. He probably wants some rain to fall but he stays this trip strongly and I expect a bold show if fit enough. They do leave the CP off, which could be a sign this is a prep (but it’s 23k to the winner, and if he’s going to win a ‘Premier Handicap’ it could be this early in the season) but also it could be they don’t think he needs them now/has matured further. He should race prominently and be in a ‘no excuses’ position.

Obsessedwithyou – more guessing here, this could be the first of the new Junior National Hunt hurdles, open to 3YOs who’ve never ran on the flat (unlike juvenile hurdles). I suppose Alan King is a master with this type, hence his being the fav. The form of the Snowden yard drew me in, 6/16,10p in the last 14 days. He does well with his Wetherby darts also, 7/28,10p in the last 5 years. She’s fairly well bred/related, and gets some weight from the boys. Here’s hoping, but there isn’t much to go on!

Ukantango – I suspect another race to sit out, especially as this one has now gone odds on, but he is the most interesting in here by some way, in what could be a moderate race. Fresh could also be the time to catch him as it doesn’t look like he takes his racing that well. The Olly Murphy yard are also hitting some form, 2/7,4p in recent days, 6/22,9p all Wetherby runners in the last year, +12. Even with a penalty, I’m not sure what beats him, for all it’s a novice hurdle. One for muggy multiples, if you must.

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Thanks for reading,

Josh