Review of the day

Well things might not have panned out quite how I hoped this afternoon, but at least Sarando managed to secure our first return of the month…

And for much of the race, it looked as if it was going to be a fair sized return, as galloped from hurdle to hurdle.

Before the field had reached half way, I knew he was going to run a big race, as he was in a lovely rhythm, in what was truly desperate ground.

But unfortunately he could never quite shake off the two market leaders and ultimately they both went past him on the run to the second last.

Thankfully he stayed on for third place – which was the least he deserved for his efforts…

The winner, Virginia Ash, was making a dramatic return to form, having previously shown very little so far this season…

He opened up at 14/1 last night – but went off 11/4 favourite.

Clearly his return to from wasn’t a shock to everyone…

As I’ve said before, that’s the trouble with these low class races – something can come along, almost out of nowhere and put in a performance stones above what you would reasonably expect.

The issue comes down to prize money: the race was worth just over £3K, which equates to about £200 at 14/1.

In fairness, I thought we were going to benefit from being with a ‘plot’ horse earlier in the afternoon…

I wobbled a bit when I saw that Head Space has been backed into 4/1 this morning – but I never have imagined he would go off a 7/4 shot !

Somebody clearly thought that today was the day…

Unfortunately for them, the connections of Brandon Thomas evidently thought the same, as he too halved in price from an early 6/1 to 11/4 at the off.

Sablazo on the other hand, drifted from 7/1 this morning, to 20/1 as the tapes went up. At that price I might have been tempted to take a risk on his ‘quirks’.

As it turned out, it was the supporters of Brandon Thomas who were left smiling, as he got the better of the surprisingly game Sablazo…

Head Space ran on into a never nearer fourth, Looking as if he needed a step up in trip.

A little later in the afternoon, No Buts was another well backed horse who delivered – this time in some style: whilst Fidelor ran another very decent race to take fourth place in the finale. He is clearly in good heart at the moment…

It is highly unlikely that there will be any tips tomorrow – and there will certainly be no write-up.

Only the meeting at Exeter has survived the weather and whilst there are a few decent races, I’ve not spotted anything suitable for a tip yet (though I will keep on looking)

If I do find anything, I will issue it at the normal time – but there won’t be a write-up.

I need to take my eldest daughter back to Uni tomorrow – and I will have to set off straight after the school run, if I’m going to make it back in time to pick the little ones up !

Oh the joys of fatherhood (or being a taxi driver, as it is also known !!).

TVB.