Review of the day (Jan 8th)

Following a very hectic - if disappointing - Christmas/New year period, it was back to the more mundane racing today…

There were a couple of cards of interest - and whilst they weren’t outstanding, they weren’t too bad either.

Finding decent bets this morning, was as tricky as it’s been all season - but I ultimately settled on 4 best bets, plus a few others for the Matrix.

2 of the Best bets, were ‘value’ calls; whilst the other 2 were the horses I thought most likely to win their respective races (with less focus on the value element).

My thinking was that I would take a risk on the ‘value’ selections - whilst a win for either of the ‘strong’ selections, would cover the days outlay…

Chef D’Equipe was the first of the Best bets to run.
He was a ‘value’ call - even though his priced had halved, from yesterday evening !

He was running in a weak looking race, where he appeared the main danger to the favourite, Farinet.
I had originally hoped to put up Farinet - but his opening quote of 9/4 looked quite tight - never mind the 5/4 SP !

Chef D’Equipe was also well backed - and was ultimately sent off at 7/1.
That struck me as about the right price - until I saw him pre-race…

Only a pretty cold day, he was sweating on his neck - and seemed far too anxious.

As soon as the tape went up, it was clear that he was going to be too much of a handful for his jockey - and whilst he tried to restrain him, it was an uneven battle.

Before half way, it was clear that Chef D’Equipe had fretted away his race - and he was soon pulled up.

Nothing else was able to mount a serious challenge to Farinet - and he came home a comfortable winner…

The second Best bet was Moonlighter - and he was another value call.

However, he was running in a much more competitive race - in which I struggled to pick between 6 of the 7 runners.

He was just about my main fancy - but I also covered a couple of his rivals for the Matrix, as I felt they had been priced up bigger than they should have been.

One of those rivals, Bun Doran, set out to try and make all - with Moonlighter stalking him.
Turning into the straight Bun Doran still had every chance - but Moonlighter was beginning to struggle.

It was then just a question of whether Bun Doran could hold off Gunsight Ridge - but he couldn’t.

I’ve no real complaints. Two of the three horses that I suggested, ran well - it was just a shame that neither ran well enough to win !

Grey Diamond was the third best bet to run. He was a strong bet and I was very hopeful that he would win.

His race didn’t appear to have much depth - and I could only see a couple of potential dangers.

Everything was going well, until Grey Diamond made a bad mistake at the seventh fence.
I did wonder how he’d cope with that - but to his credit, he seemed to shrug it off.
He put down a strong challenge, jumping the second last - and still had every chance approaching the final fence.

However, he clipped the top of the fence - and his momentum saw him lose his footing and slither to a standstill.

It’s hard to say he was unlucky - as the fences are there to be jumped.
However, I’ve lost count of how many near misses the Best bets have had this season - and he can definitely be added to the list…

Final Nudge was the last Best bet of the day.

As with Grey Diamond, I felt he was the most likely winner of his race - and whilst his early price was too tight to suggest, the race was sufficiently competitive for me to feel reasonably sure that his BSP would be better (or at least, not much worse !).

I had expected there to be a real battle for the lead - but that’s not how it turned out.
Valadom jumped from fence to fence - and as he pinged the final railway fence on the second circuit, it looked as if he might have slipped the field.

However, his petrol gauge then started to flicker - and Final Nudge was heading the closing pack…
He reeled in the tiring leader, after jumping the second last - and it briefly looked as if he was going to win.
However, Prime Venture then powered past him - and that was that !
Another second - and another Best bet that had traded odds on IR - and lost…

However, at least this time, there was a consolation.
I had foreseen a scenario where the race fell apart - and just in case that happened, I’d covered Prime Venture for the Matrix (along with Aso).
That’s exactly how the Matrix should work - and once again this season, it saved the day…

There was only one other Matrix bet on the day - Inferno Sacree at Wincanton - though I fear he may still be running..!

Away from the races that provided betting interest:
Constitution Hill was massively impressive when taking the Tolworth hurdle - and is now an understandably short priced fav for the Supreme hurdle at the Cheltenham festival.
Whilst I did the right thing, swerving the final races at both Sandown and Wincanton (due to uncertainty over conditions and runners), as neither of the race winners featured on my short lists…

TVB.