Another good WINNER for my subscribers yesterday.  Mekong did the business at Chelmsford yesterday 2:45.  Advised late on Friday evening at 100/30.  He returned at 3/1 co favourite, given a positive ride by Jim Crowley, who always had him in a good position.  Mekong found plenty in the closing stages to repel the late challenge from Rude Awakening.  Both of these horses should be followed, as they are both improving with racing.

I did see a racing accident last night at Lingfield Park in the 5:30 race.  John Fahy on the eventual winner Dark Side Jazz, who made all the running, went sharply left about 1 furlong out, he had just received a crack with the whip by Fahy (with his right hand), which caused his mount to go left.  To be fair to Fahy he was doing his best to try and get his  mount to go forward as best he could, he did his best to correct his horse, but the horse on his inside Iballisticvin-who was looking like making a serious challenge, was hampered, causing him to fall. Thankfully the horse that fell and his jockey looked fine.   Fahy received an 8 day ban (which I think was a bit harsh).  Ok he caused a fall, but it was just an unfortunate incident.  For me the stewards have over reacted, stewards in my view, at a lot of racetracks make too many inconsistent decisions.  A 2 day ban would of been fair, Fahy did his best to correct his horse when he deviated, he could not do much more.  I believe the majority of stewards have never ridden in a race.  So how they can do a  stewards job is beyond me !

I recall one day a steward asking me why I was not asking my horse to progress (I was sitting still at the time), I pointed out to him that we had a circuit of the track to race !

Common sense idea:

I think at least one former jockey should be a steward, at every race meeting, the majority of stewards secretaries are former riders, so why not have at least one as an acting steward as well.  A large number of stewards are clueless , it amazes me why the BHA has not weeded these people out of doing a job they are clearly not qualified at.

The big sprint handicap today at Goodwood is the Unibet Stewards Cup.  With over £155,000 to the winner, it is highly competitive.  Trying to pick the winner is nigh on impossible ! Fun each way betting only, if I was having an interest each way it would be Gunmetal, around 14/1 he is trained by a shrewd man, and drawn in the middle in stall 13, hopefully his jockey will follow the side which has the most early pace, big fields over a straight 6f, usually split across the track, it is vital that when riding you are where the pace is quickest, as they take you into the race if you are on a horse that likes a bit of cover.

I was pleased to see Shaun Keightley have his first winner of 2018 with Dance Teacher on Thursday at Epsom.  I did mention it on my blog, a really good weight carrying performance by the mare, winning with 10stone 5 pounds on her back.

Delighted to get my subscribers a winner in the 1:50 at Goodwood.  Mirage Dancer , who I advised at 7/4 was heavily backed, I think he was around 5/4 returned.  He won very well, a winner at this track earlier in the year, (advised that day to back) the son of Frankel is progressing with racing, typical big colt, who has not been over raced by his trainer Sir Micheal Stoute.

The rest of today’s card’s look pretty tough.  I do like a horse tonight at Newmarket , just assessing his rivals, currently dry at the July racecourse, I see it has been raining in the north.  I spoke to my brother in law earlier, he was heading north with my sister for a week away from Newmarket.  He told me he is busy riding out every day, he was a head lad for many years for James Toller, up to when he retired from training about 3 years ago.  He was just saying how difficult it must be for someone in charge of the yard ( Head Lad) is these days, staff in Newmarket is in decline, I could see that when I was working for Godolphin, although we had very good staff at Saeed Bin Suroor’s yard. A large number of old school lads/lasses got out of the racing industry about 8 years ago, and have not come back ! What the answer is to attract school leavers to work in racing is , I do not know ! I think it is going to get worse,  before it maybe can get better.

I managed to see a fair bit of racing earlier.  Pleased to see Godolphin win another Group 1 race with Wild Illusion , she has been running well in top races all year, the drop back to 10f today seemed to suit her.  William Buick gave her a positive ride, making all the running, she really answered his every call in the last two furlongs, galloping on strong to win well from Urban Fox.

Galway has had a bit of rain, very tough to back winners at this meeting.  A large number of stables target this meeting, especially in the handicaps.  The crowd looks large all week, it is a meeting I want to go to one day, I never managed to ride there when I was a jockey.

I am just looking at the Epsom card for tonight, it would be nice to see my old weighing room colleague Shaun Keightley have a winner tonight, with Dance Teacher 7:30.  Shaun is back training after over 10 years without a license.   I saw him recently at the July sales in Newmarket, he was in good form.  Shaun is a really good man,  who works very hard,  and deserves to do well.   He was a good dual purpose jockey.  I spent many enjoyable days going racing with him, and some good days riding against him as well.

Start of a new month.  July was another month of Profit for my subscribers, I was pleased to get a 44 point profit over the month.

Today sees the second day of Goodwood, looking at the card there are some really good horses on show.  Without Parole runs in the feature race the Qatar Sussex Stakes (Group 1), he is improving with every run, and will be hard to beat again today, although Expert Eye seems to have found his form again, he looked exceptional last year when winning the Group 2 Vintage Stakes over 7f at Goodwood, so he acts well , a change of rider today for him , James Doyle takes over from James McDonald who won on him last time, if Doyle can get this horse to relax, he is a big danger to the favourite.

Competitive fields today at the two main race meetings.  Goodwood and Galway have good prize money on offer, which is good, it does make it difficult to find a winner though!

The main race at Goodwood is the Qatar Goodwood Cup Stakes (Group 1) at 3:35.  The hot favourite is Stradivarius, he won the race last year, and arrives with two good wins in 2018, the most recent being the Ascot Gold Cup.  He looks to have a favourites chance today, at 4/7- I will let him run, although he is the likely winner.  Torcedor is around 9/2, unfortunately only 7 start, so each way is only 2 places.  I do think he is the one that could give the favourite something to think about.

The most intriguing race on the card though, is the 2.25.  The Group 2 event for two year olds.  If you can find the winner of this race, you are doing well.  Some really nice colts and a decent gelding line up in this 7f race.  If I was having an interest bet, it would be Drogon each way, he was impressive on his recent win at Haydock, where he did a very fast time.  If he acts as well on this right handed track, and is allowed a soft lead, he could be hard to peg back.

With rain over the weekend it is best to bet with caution over the next few days.  I was pleased to see Benbatl win a Group 1 race yesterday in Munich.  I think it is Saeed Bin Suroor’s first Group 1 in Europe in 2018. So far this season his horses have not matched the other salaried trainer for Godolphin.  Charlie Appleby has had a pretty good season, winning a Derby and a few Group races as well, he had a Group 3 winner in France on Saturday, two year old filly Beyond Recall.

The big meetings this week are Goodwood, which starts tomorrow.  Galway in Ireland starts today, Galway must have had a good amount of rain, the going is yielding on the jumps track and soft on the flat track, trying to find a winner at the meeting looks as difficult as ever.

Great ride by James Doyle yesterday on Poets Word in the Group 1 King George V1 And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.  He did not panic when Crystal Ocean,  ridden by William Buick got a length or more turning into the straight, Doyle admitted after the race that he got trapped behind Coronet, he was following her, as he did think she would bring him forward into the race, surprisingly she didn’t, Buick rode a good race, he did nothing wrong on Crystal Ocean, but Poet’s Word was very willing under Doyle- responding well to pressure, he got up close home to win in a photograph.

Another jockey who rode a peach of a race was Silvestre de Sousa on Victory Command 4:15 Ascot.  He stole the race, given a very soft lead, he got the fractions right, asking his mount at the right moment to go and win his race. I did think the race would be between Nate The Great and Master Brewer, both who made late headway, Master Brewer was given an impossible task by his jockey, I did not understand the ride from Ryan Moore, who makes very few mistakes in a race, but this ride was one of them !

A fair amount of rain about, so betting with extreme caution is a must over the next few days.

Flaming Spear each way 3.00 Ascot has a good profile, he possibly would prefer a bit of rain.  But in a open race he could give followers a bit of value at 7/1 each way.

Just heard that Cracksman is a non runner in the Group 1 at Ascot 3.40.  I guess the ground is not ideal for him.  It is still a good race, with Poets Word and Crystal Ocean heading the market for Sir Michael Stoute’s powerful stable.  Stoute has a good record in the race, not sure which way it will go, it is not exactly between the front two in the betting.  Coronet is a very useful filly, she could shake up the colt’s.  If I was having a bet in the race, it would be Poet’s Word.  Lot’s of other good racing, currently dry weather at a lot of the tracks, hopefully it will be not too soft at Newmarket, the track does drain very well, chalk based tracks do seem to drain much better than clay.

I will try and put an each way horse on in the next hour or so, always good to try and give followers a nice each way horse on a Saturday.