Some decent racing today.  Fair amount of rain around, so cautious betting on the turf.  Good wood has some strong fields, ground that will be riding soft, so proven soft ground performers are worth a look.  At 4.10 Monica Sheriff has proven soft ground from, solid chance here,  she will possibly have most to fear from Nette Rousse who is another with a liking for the ground conditions.  Litigious has looked tame in a finish of late, so I would be not totally convinced about her.  At Kempton 5.00, Desert Safari won well on debut, he should defy his penalty.  At Newcastle tonight Poetic Legacy looked well ahead of her mark when winning at Chelmsford, she has a 6lb penalty, although I don’t think that will be enough to stop her winning again here.

A fair few races gone.  Gowran Park has been abandoned due to lightning.  Really races left at most of the tracks.   At Chelmsford, a small field for the 4.00, Furious has course form, and likes to win.  Backing the winner of the 3.50 at Ayr looks very difficult.  Buffer Zone comes over from Ireland, he is well fancied.  I will have a small interest each way on Laugh A Minute.  I hope Orlaith can win at 3.15, her trainer Iain Jardine has been doing well of late.  Good fields at Newmarket, very tough card to back winners at, the Rowley mile track is a really tough track, no hiding place.  Stagehand will be the getting out Stakes bet at 5.00, especially if the day has not gone too well !

Good punting !

Friday cards are from Ayr, Newbury, Newcastle and at Newton Abbot in the UK, Ballinrobe and Dundalk also race from Ireland.  At the Scottish western meeting of Ayr, some very competitive racing.  El Naseri 1.40 has a good chance of going one better than his recent second at Thirsk.  The 3.45 is the bronze William Hill Handicap, it’s a tough one to solve.  At Newbury 2.20 Shailene has eased in price, but has a good chance of giving Oisin Murphy another winner, he looks home and hosed in his bid to become champion jockey this season.  He has been riding better than ever of late, a really good effort from him.

The racing tomorrow looks very tough.  Finding the winner of the big sprint handicap at Ayr looks as difficult as ever. The ground is unusually dry this year, so draw bias will not be quite like it is when the track is riding on the soft side.

Hopefully I can find something worth an interest bet in the race.

Some really good racing today.  Lots of nice young horses running today at Sandown.  The 2.20 is a Novice Stakes race for two year olds over 1 mile.  Heaven Forfend has the best form on those who have been to the races.  He was a good second on debut, and then ran behind the best two year old in Europe at Ascot, running respectively that day, finishing 6th was no disgrace.  With Byzantine Empire also in the line up, and Never Alone another promising type, it will be a good race.  The 2.55 is a penalty kick for Palace Pier, he looked very useful when winning on his debut, jockey Frankie Dettori and trainer John Gosden could well win the 3.25 as well with Turgenev.  At Yarmouth Majaalis 4.50 has some headgear on today, in a race that looks winnable, he would be my choice.

At Worcester on Monday there was an incident in the final race, jockey Tom Bellamy received a suspension for deliberately pushing the horse Leighton Aspell was riding against the rail after jumping the third last hurdle.  The unwritten rule between jockeys is you don’t try and sneak through on the inside, if you do try and get through, you need to do it quickly and have a horse that is weakening immediately in front of you, a shout to the jockey, and they no they are going backwards, so will normally let you through.  I have looked at the footage, and think Bellamy was leaving a gap which was too inviting for Aspell, who had been on the inside for all of the race, Bellamy did not adopt the inside route up to the point where he decided to make his manoeuvre that caused Aspell to snatch his horse up. He had been about two horses off the rail, for lots of the race.  I think Bellamy deserved to get a ban, I’m sure the boys had a few words inside the weighing room after the race.

Still plenty of races left at Galway and Newcastle.  Simply Beautiful 6.15 just about to race at Galway. I thought she would be tough to beat, despite the drift to 3/1.

More later.

A late post today.  With only two races down at Kempton so far.  A few of interest in a couple of the later races.  The 7.00 is a really interesting race. With a couple of proven front runners in the race.  Hermosura won well last time, although it was possibly a weak race, the second got well beat today, but that was on turf.  Alma Linda  was the one I thought that had a strong chance, it really depends on how the race is run, she likes to bowl along, so I will probably have a bet “in play” if she does not get taken on too much.  Robert Lechelle is a bit of an unexposed type in it.  He looked good on the all weather, earlier in the year, and ran ok on his recent run, so may progress.  He is not over raced, so is one to watch.  In the final race, Brigand is coming off a break, and a win. He is still well handicapped on his older form, and could be one to side with in the 8.30.

More tomorrow.

Hopefully followers took my advise and backed Logician yesterday in the William Hill St Leger.  He was an impressive winner, breaking the course record in the process! He could well be as effective over 12f next year, I am not sure if he will run again in 2019.  Possible excursion to America for one of the Breeders Cup races may be an option. Reflecting on the last weeks racing, some really nice prospects for next year.  Stradivarius was once again a clear winner, he is apparently staying in training, and will try and win another Ascot Gold Cup next season.  Molatham was a good winner, from highly promising Wichita on Friday, both horses are potentially Group race future winners, I would not write off Visinari yet, he was fourth in the same race.  A big weak colt, hopefully he will not run again this year.  I saw this horse when he won at Newmarket back in June, I just hope he has no lasting effects from a lot of racing for a very immature horse, who clearly needs to fill his frame !

Todays card’s at the Curragh see’s 4 Group 1 races.  Pinatubo 3.35 hopes to keep up his unbeaten record.  He has done everything right so far, in his likely hardest test, Armory could well give him something to think about.  He has improved with racing, and will not go down without a battle.  The 4.50 is a race for retired jockeys, all riding to raise money for Pat Smullen, who is raising money for a great cause.  Pat had to retire from riding this year, due to cancer, sadly he is not quite well enough to ride in this race, some fantastic riders from both codes line up, hopefully it will be a good race and all of the riders enjoy getting back on the racecourse.  At Longchamp it is Arc trials weekend, with only three weeks left until the big race.  Waldgeist is very short odds to win at 1.35, he is still a live each way price for the big race, at around 16/1, I have already backed him each way for the race.

It was sad to see the Queen’s horse Invictus Spirit fatally injured yesterday, after winning the 4.05 Chester.  The race he won was set up for him by Mayne and Two Bids, who took each other on in the first 4f of the race, both horses early fractions covering the first 5 and a half furlongs in 1 minute. 03.89, which is far too quick.  Paul Hanagan who rode Two Bids, seemed adamant that he was going to make the running, and chased his horse up to try and get the lead in the early stages of the race, David Probert was trying to get his horse Mayne to relax, but had no hope when hassled by Hanagan, who was riding a very strange race.   Invictus Spirit, ridden patiently, picked off the tiring Mayne in the latter stages to score by about 2 Lengths.  Shortly after passing the line, he took a “bad step” and was fatally injured.

Today has some really good races.  The main race is at Doncaster.  The William Hill St Leger Stakes, a Group 1 for 3 year old colts and fillies. Proven stamina is required for this race, ran over 14f and 115 yards.  Unbeaten Logician has everything in his favour as I see it, he will cope ok with the quick ground, stays well, and has the right man on top in Frankie Dettori.  He is short priced favourite, probably because of the ground, which will ride on the fast side, If the ground was on the easy side, Sir Dragonet would be a real threat, and would be closer in price.   He is coming of a disappointing effort, although that was over 10f, which is on the sharp side,  but prior to that his form was really good.  He ran well in the Derby, having looked like winning, until just getting ran out of it in the last furlong, finishing a close fifth, on what was only his third run.  That is good form.  Both him and the favourite Logician did not race at two.  So are still relatively unexposed, and likely improvers, Donacha O’Brian, who rides Sir Dragonet was very bullish about his horses chance when interviewed yesterday. So it should be a good race.

More later.

One race down at Chester, where the ground looks on slow side of good.  I thought Conundrum 3.00 had a decent chance, he drops back to 10f, having not quite getting home over 12f on his last two runs.  He has ran well at the track, which is always a plus having experienced the tight turns.  He likes to bowl along at the front end, and with only Torochina being the other confirmed front runner, who steps up 3f in trip, my selection way get his own way in front.  At Doncaster Saroog 2.40 looks to have found a decent opportunity, he is improving and comes here full of confidence, having won his last two. Sprinter,  A’Ali 3.45 looked very good over 5f, prior to his ok run over 6f.  The drop back in trip to 5f today should be ideal, his first try racing on a faster surface, he has raced with cut in the ground so far,  if he handles the fast ground ok, he is the one to beat.

It looks like being quick ground tomorrow for the final 3 year old ‘‘classic”,  ground that will very likely not be ideal for Sir Dragonet.

More tomorrow.

He Only two races left at Chelmsford this evening.  The last race just ran at 7.20  was won by Royal Birth, who was given a soft lead over the 5f race.  His young rider Marco Ghiani managed to ride an astute race to win, as it was virtually impossible for his rivals to win, as they gifted the race to the apprentice rider.  It’s hard to win from behind off slow fractions, as the horses ridden prominently, especially the horse making the running have a massive advantage, as was the case here. It amazes me how some jockeys on horses that like to come from behind, ride the same race, no matter what the pace of the race is being ran at.  The favourite Harry’s Bar was given a mountain to climb by his jockey George Wood, it hasn’t been George’s night, as he didn’t shine on Silver Samurai 5.50, as I think he should of won as well.

A lot of analysis about the St Leger on the Racing channels today.  The final classic for three year olds on Saturday at Doncaster looks between Logician and Sir Dragonet.  The unbeaten Logician heads the betting, and deserves to be at the head of the market, he has improved with every run so far, and I think he will be hard to beat.  If I was looking for something to back each way, Technician At 12/1 would be my choice.

More tomorrow.