Good to see Royston French returns to race riding today.  He has been out of action since January, he was injured when his horse Frankyfourfingers fell fatally at Jebel Ali races in the UAE.  Royston is really nice guy and decent jockey, he spent one of his numerous winters he has been going to Dubai at Al Quoz (Godolphin) , when I was out there. I am not sure what year it was, but remember him being a bit dislusioned with the season he had just had in the UK.  He was considering going to America, as he was quite good friends with Gary Stevens, who had told him he would get him some rides in the States.  Anyway he did not go, he spent the winter at Godolphin, had a number of rides, a few winners and made some contacts out there, he has been going out there ever since, as far as I can recall.  Hopefully he can get off to a good start today, and get a bit of luck, as he can do light weights and is a good rider. It’s always tough though, when your name has not been in the paper for a while.

Looking at a couple of races today that have horses I follow, just waiting to see the weather and will watch a race or two first before deciding if to back something.

Found a good WINNER today for my subscribers.  Loxley 3:55 Deauville returned at 7/5, I advised an SP bet as I thought he may be a better price than he was on UK bookies, and it was a good strategy.

I didn’t advise a bet yesterday, I find Saturday always tough.  I missed a winner yesterday, due to an internet connection problem, then knew if I advised my other fancy, it would likely get beat, well it won as well ! But nothing lost as I see it .

A fair amount of rain has fallen across the UK, so a good look at how it has affected ground conditions tomorrow, a few horses running of interest, but I will look at the forecast in the morning.  I did back another horse today at Yarmouth, who was withdrawn due to the ground changing to good to soft.

Just been to see an old friend and work colleague.  I am in Spain at the moment, Darren Biggs former flat jockey lives about 40 miles inland from where I am staying. I had not seen him for about 6 years, he moved to Spain in April 2018.  He has bought a place, which he is currently renovating, he is converting some of the out buildings into apartments, with a view to having guests staying and is going to have a few horses, he is going to do some horse trek ride outs and is also eventually going to re plant some avocado trees, and sell them to local supermarkets and resteraunts. It was good to see him, he is pretty good at the building and renovation work himself, and was showing me a pond of koi carp he had moved from one pond to another, he bought the fish with the property, apparently some of the fish are about £650 each to buy ! He said he thinks he has about 400 of them.

Back to today’s meetings, some useful horses racing in Ireland and France.  A little bit of uncertainty about the Aiden O’Brian horses at the moment, he said a lot of his horses had a virus, and the majority are behind in work, he expects a few to progress for runs this week at York,  Saxon Warrior being one of the horses, he expects to be better next time.  I was surprised how far he finished behind Roaring Lion the other day, as he was only a neck behind him when they met in July.

A few horses entered today I like, and a bank holiday Monday tomorrow, so hopefully I can find one that will win, a few horses in races that are of interest.

The trickiest day of the week, trying to find a winner or two on Saturday, with so much racing is never easy.  The big handicap at York today at 3:40 is the Sky Bet Ebor handicap over 14f.  Trying to find the winner is not too easy.  I hope Nakeeta can run a big race, he won it last year, off a slightly higher rating this year it will be no walk in the park to win this really hot handicap.

I have looked at a lot of races today, one filly running at Chelmsford 3:35 Janibya is over priced at 14/1, a small field of runners today.  She was too keen last time at Doncaster, when expected to run well, her first run this year was a good run, she was second to a decent filly.  Today’s rivals, apart from the favourite, have a few question marks, only 5 runners, but at her generous odds, she is value to be in the mix.

Battaash was a disappointing 4th at York earlier today.  He looked a bit on edge at the start, his temperament sometimes gets the better of him unfortunately, he has that brilliance about him, but only occasionally.

When I was working for Godolphin, we had a number of really good horses.  One horse that reminds me a bit of Battaash is Aljabar.  He was a miler, he won many races, but sometimes he would boil over, and put in a tame effort.  I have mentioned on my blog before, Dubai Millenium was the best horse we had at Godolphin during my 12 years.  He had a bit of tempremant, but it did not effect his performance.  When he ran in the trial race for the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba, he got very worked up in the stable area before he was saddled, it was a bit of coltish behaviour, we took in to one of the stables and washed him down, to try and relax him, it didn’t make too much difference, then he went and broke the track record !

He was a machine, he always worked great at home, and was just as good on the racecourse.  Horses like him do not come along very often.

Hopefully I can find a horse for followers tomorrow, an each way decent priced one with a good chance.

Another good card at York today.  The 3:35pm is the Nunthorpe Stakes over 5f.  It looks as good as ever, with Ascot winner Blue Point and Battaash opposing each other again.  I thought Jim Crowley rather set the race up for Blue Point at Ascot, on today’s faster track, it will suit Battaash much better, plus I think his horse is in better shape now, than he was in June. He will take all the beating for me.

Some other good races, with the Gimcrack 3:00 pm  for the two year olds,  over 6f, it is quite difficult to pick the winner of this one, lots with chances.  I hope Semoum can run well for George Peckham, he has to improve a fair bit to win, although at big odds he is worth a small each way bet.

It was good to see Mark Johnston break the record of number of winners yesterday.  The biggest showman had to be involved, Frankie Dettori rode the winner Poets Society, who made all the running to win a very competitive race, to train over 4000 winners is unbelievable, one thing that Johnston does, is run them.  He says himself, no prize money at home, he does not gallop them much at home, once they are fit, he  races them.

Ground looks ok at York.  I am only having a few interest bets on today.  A bit of fun only.  I just saw the Lowther Stakes Group 2, won by a game effort, Fairyland who went off as just about favourite, made about all the running, she was probably just headed about 1f out, but rallied well to get up on the line to win by a nose.

Ryan Moore was at his best on her, it may well give the Ballydoyle horses a boost, as it was not great yesterday, a few of the yard horses have ran below expectation over the last month or so.  Broome was probably not good enough yesterday, he was only 6th in the Acomb Stakes, but was not that quick away from the stalls, plus he wants further than the 7f, I think.

I may have an interest each way on Seniority at York.  He won well last time, and looks progressive, he has Ryan Moore on top, and at around 13/2, he is appealing.

The winning display by Roaring Lion yesterday at York, was very impressive.  His trainer did not need to run Cracksman, the way Roaring Lion won, he is ahead of anything over 10f, he does like fast/good ground, he may not beat Cracksman on slow ground, if they meet.  I did think Saxon Warrior could be in the frame, he ran a good race to be 4th, but he has not developed into the horse he threatened to be when running away with the 2,000 Guineas in May.

A fair amount of rain forecast today across the U.K., so I will be waiting for a few hours to see how the ground is affected.

Well a good days racing ahead.  The York feature race is the Juddmonte International Stakes Group 1.  It looks like being a cracker, Poet’s Word, Roaring Lion, Saxon Warrior and Latrobe! Picking the one out of them, I do think Without Parole races a bit too keen to win over 10f, but respect trainer John Gosden for having a go, he obviously thinks he will stay the trip.  If I have a bet, it will be Saxon Warrior each way.  He has done little wrong, he probably did not stay in the Derby, then ran a good race over in Ireland, over 12f, then a cracking run in the Eclipse, only just beaten that day when second to Roaring Lion.  The last time I was at York was when Sakhee won the same race by 7 lengths, I had a real good bet on him that day, he was a really good horse for Godolphin.

I do like two horses today at York, problem is they are in the same race !

Todays meetings look quite tricky.  A few races look as though it is hard to oppose the favourite, Brighton has a few races that look as though favourites can win, although Brighton is quite a unique track.  A large number of horses simply do not act on the many undulations of the track, plus it can get very firm.  Talking of favourites, Stratum is not certain to get in on Saturday at York, he is current favourite for the big £300,000 Ebor Handicap.  I think three need to come out for him to be sure to get a run.  I would like to see Iain Jardine’s horse Nakeeta run well again.  He won it last year and ran well at Newbury on his latest run.  Iain was pleased with that run, as he said he usually takes a few runs to reach his best form, he has a big weight, draw will be important.