My selection yesterday Plumatic ran a good race,  I backed home each way, just pipped for third place near the finish in the Prix Moulin Group 1.  The winner Recoletos franked the form of Alpha Centauri, who beat him last time.  She is the best miler around.

Todays racing has four meetings in the U.K. and Listowel in Ireland.  The Irish meeting has 207,000 euros on offer,  over 4 times the amount on offer at Brighton !  Prize Money is still poor in the UK, although I guess with the amount of meetings the pot is spread very thin.

At Chelmsford the 7:15 has £16k plus for the winner.  In a very competitive race Moqarrab likes the all weather, if he can overcome stall 11, he has a good each way chance.  Saeed Bin Suroor has his horses in good form at the moment.

Mekong won well at Haydock yesterday, 9/4 looked good when he took it up about 3f out. I mentioned yesterday that the value had shrunk but He won by 7l.   I had backed him on Thursday evening at 13/2,  as the forecast for the Haydock area was rain and knew the horse would handle the ground well.

It was a disappointing run by Harry Angel in the 6f Group 1 sprint.  He ran with the ‘choke out’ and had nothing more to give when asked to stretch by his jockey Adam Kirby.  The winner The Tin Man who was ridden for the first time by Oisin Murphy handled the heavy underfoot conditions, and ridden handier than his usual rider (Tom Queally) normally rides him, galloped on strongly in the last furlong to win.  Murphy is riding with so much confidence at the moment, he had three winners at the track yesterday.

Some good races today at Longchamp, with the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at 3:15 being the main race.  Recoletos who is trained in France is likely to start as favourite,  he has won a Group 1 over 9f at the track before, he will be fine on the good to soft ground as well.  Plumatic was only a nose behind Recoletos last season over 10f, he has won his last two races over 1 mile and at 15/2 he could be a bit of value each way.

Another normal Saturday of open handicap races.  Haydock ground will ride very soft.  I did have a bit each way on Mekong 1.50,  at 13/2. He is around 2/1 now, so the value in price has shrunk ! He should handle the conditions, hopefully he can win.

In the main race at 4.15  Harry Angel is hot favourite, if he has no mishaps in the stalls, he should be ok on the heavy ground,  5/4 may look large after 50 yards of the race, if all goes smooth.

I try and give followers a value bet in one of the handicap races.  I have had a small each way on Belle Meade 2.45 Ascot at 33/1. It is any horses race, as I see it.  She has gone up in the weights for a 7 L win last time.  She has a low weight, and has a chance of running well, he stables horses are on a massive high.

Fair bit of cut in the ground at Haydock today.  Some competitive races, if having a bet, I would look for something that has form with ease in the ground.  At Ascot there are some tight races, not fantastic prize money for a grade 1 track, the biggest race is the £30,000 guaranteed handicap at 4:20, Shady MCCoy and Zwayyan are course winners, the latter has won over the mile trip, with useful claimer Jason Watson on top, he has to be right in the mix.

Sextant owned by the Queen should oblige at short odds in the 3:15, at 4/11, it is a race to watch.

Good racing tomorrow, I will give an each way bet for followers, hopefully at decent odds.

Quite a few good two year old races today.  At this time of year we see the ones that have usually needed a bit of time to develop,  and the bigger trainers are looking to get a run or two into some of them, for education, plus they want to see where they are, or likely to go, as big owners want new stock, and will sell the ones that are not good enough for them.  The 2:40 at Haydock today has San Donato who cost 500,000 as a yearling, he is having his third run, after a good debut, he was not up to winning at Royal Ascot,  I’m sure connections will be hoping he can win today, but it is quite competitive,  Hello Youmzain won well on debut, he could well be useful.  Stakeholder (210,000 yearling) is another to consider, after a fair 4th on his first run, after running very green that day.  The 3:10 has some nice types as well.  Waldstern (400,000) won on debut, he looked useful, good money this am for Kadar (700,000 2 year old) must have shown plenty at home, his trainers horses normally benefit for a run, so he may be one to watch.

More later.

Nice to get another WINNER for my subscribers last night at Kempton in the 7:15,  Goodwood Showman advised at 7/2 on Friday, was well backed in to 2/1.  Well ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, as his horse was a tad keen early on, but he managed to get a bit of cover, and when asked to go and win his race about 1 1/2 furlongs out, he showed a willing attitude to gallop on strongly to win by a length.

I hope some of my followers may of took my advise about Cogital in the 5:20 at Goodwood yesterday,  I thought he would get beat,  he was 4/5 fav,  and was a good horse to lay. He is not straightforward, and one to avoid !

Some competitive races today.  I think it is a day for a bit of interest betting only, as nothing really stands out, as a good thing.  I was impressed with Saracen Knight yesterday, he won well at Naas last night 6.05.  He is a horse to follow, and judging by his trainers recent results, Aiden O’Brian has his horses in top form again, he did have a virus about 3 or 4 weeks ago, as some ran below par,  they seem in good shape again.

I was looking at today’s cards.  Goodwood has had a bit of rain,  the ground after the first race looks ok.  One horse Austrian School in the 4:10 possibly wants the ground on the faster side, but if he is not too inconvenienced by underfoot conditions, he could be hard to beat.  I do not often lay horses, I did mention a horse on Sunday at Worcester, that was favourite, I would not back, as he was only favourite because he was with Dan Skelton ! He ran as I thought, pulled up in the end.  Cogital is odds on in the 5:20 Goodwood.  I think he has quirks, and could well get turned over.

More later.

Showers of rain forecast in the South West mainly, so little bit of caution if punting today.  A couple of horses of interest later today, I’m just going to watch the weather and see a few races, before having a bet.

I was reading about the Paul Nicholls open day yesterday.  He has stated that he thinks he is going to struggle to beat Nicky Henderson again for the National Hunt trainers title again this season.  But as he said, he has won 10 and been second 10 times in the last 20 seasons! Some achievement, as keeping your horses healthy for that amount of time, is very difficult.

As we move towards Autumn, we will start to see the bigger Jump yards having a few more runners over the next month or so.  Obviously it depends if we get a bit of rain, as dry conditions see quite small fields.

Some convincing winners yesterday.  Too Darn Hot was impressive when winning at Sandown, he is bred well and could well take a bit of beating when stepped up to Group 1 races.  Another easy winner was the Aiden O’Brian trained Ten Sovereigns, he won a Group3 race at the Curragh over 6f, he could well be aimed at the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in October.  Both are horses to follow.

Average racing today,  at Worcester in the first race Breeze Along is a short odds favourite, his form is poor and I am not sure I would be backing him, it is the Skelton factor ! He is having his first run for them, after a wind op.  Maybe they have worked some magic again.

In some wide open handicap races today.  Delphi Crescent 3:55 Beverley is around 13/2.  He is consistent, and each way represents a bit of value.  He acts on all sorts of ground, and the faster conditions today, may suit him better than Ayutthaya who is weighted to reverse places today, he was only a nose behind my selection at Hamilton, but he has a preference for ground on the easier side. This is a competitive race for a £50,000 handicap, lots of the runners are in top form.