If Ever A Wiz There Was (5th November)

Tuesday, Redcar, Karl Burke couldn't quite work his magic on WIZARD D'AMOUR. 

The race turned into a right pain in the ass when I backed the 200,000 gns Dutch Art colt at 5/1 each-way on Monday night. The Favourite, BILL PEYTO, was withdrawn. So first off a huge Rule 4. 

Then, Wizard looked like he was about to pass Le Cheval Rapide but, annoyingly, the Declan Carroll gelding had different ideas, stuck his head out on the line, to deny me a nice win. 

These things happen and we take the good with the bad. 

The drift on GIRL FROM IPANEMA told the story and was never involved. 

One horse I mentioned on Twitter the other week was QUEEN’S SPEECH for Aidan O’Brien.  The American Pharoah filly was a non runner but fast-forward to Monday at Curragh. My luck stinks at the minute because I spotted Queen’s Speech running but Heff' was on another O’Brien. So, you've guessed it, I didn’t have a bet, and off I went to work. To my surprise, when I got home and checked the results, the horse Heff' was on was a non-runner, and he won on Queen’s Speech at 11/2. You can't make it up!

It was nice to see one of James Tate's 2-year-olds to follow win today when HIT THE HEIGHTS made the perfect start at Lingfield winning 12/1. 

17:45 Chelmsford City 05 Nov 2020 

It's Bonfire night tomorrow, so I’m hoping to start the evening off with a bang, It's a shame we only have seven runners going to post here. I did like the look of EPIDEMIC’S debut run at Chepstow back in August, yes you seen that right it's been awhile since the Richard Hannon Exceed and Excel colt ran so it's a bit of a gamble. The bay colt was a pretty expensive purchase at the 2019 Orby Sales when being bought for € 430,000 for owners Aquis Hong Kong Pty Ltd & Justin Casse. Epidemic was slowly away on debut and lost a good few lengths before getting back into the race and staying on without being given a hard time by Rossa Ryan. Really not sure why he has been off the course 90 odd days but I did notice Epidemic was entered in a race the other week and was getting well-supported until being taken out late on. Andrea Atzeni takes the ride tomorrow in what looks like a tough little race but hopefully Epidemic can finish in the first two. 15/2 at time of writing.

Couple of trackers on Friday to note in Ireland. 

17:15 Dundalk (IRE) 06 Nov 2020 

A couple of trackers here, first is the O’Brien trained JEROBOAM who ran well to finish second to Hype last week. A newcomer to note is the Joseph P O'Brien runner EQUUS DEUS who comes with a nice home reputation. As always, the first timeout is always a worry but worth keeping a note of for the future. 

18:15 Dundalk (IRE) 06 Nov 2020 

JOAN OF ARC: A P O'Brien 

ON TIPTOES: Donnacha O'Brien 

Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Brazilian Magic (2:10 Redcar 3rd November)

The luck of the Irish deserted me on Sunday and, to be honest, I have pushed my luck lately with a few nice wins over these past weekends. 

Saying that, I was still disappointed as my two bets didn't even look like placing never mind winning. 

I was worried about the drop in trip for METAPHORICAL and despite being up with the pace couldn't quicken with the leaders and plugged on to finish fifth. 

I did expect more from KING OF THE CASTLE who comes from a lovely family who have won multiple group races so it was disappointing to see King Of The Castle finish fifth and never in with a shout. I won’t be giving up on him just yet as it took Serpentine a few runs to get the hang of things before getting a win on the board and going on to win the Epsom Derby last year so put this one in your tracker for another day. 

I thought HOPEFULLY DARLING ran a promising race In dire conditions at Newmarket when getting the hang of things late on. 

I mentioned a few to look out for at Kempton on Monday and was pleased with how they ran. ILZA'EEM was actually 7/1 the night before but that didn’t last long and went to 3/1 in a blink of an eye, I thought I was seeing things and couldn’t believe my eyes as I was just about to have an each way bet. In the end, I had two win bets on ILZA'EEM and my other tracker INIGO JONES who stayed on nicely and definitely worth checking next time out. 

14:10 Redcar 03 Nov 2020  

Karl Burke doesn't have the best first timeout record with 2-year-olds at Redcar. In fact, he hasn’t had a first timeout winner over the past four years but a few have placed so my tracker here comes with a warning. 

WIZARD D'AMOUR is an expensive Dutch Art colt owned by Mr Carl Waters & Mrs E Burke. 

A full-brother to the William Haggas trained Diagnostic who ran to a decent level. One issue is will the 200,000gns yearling take to the soft ground? 

I guess we won’t know till tomorrow but sire Dutch Art did win on soft early in his career. 

The likely favourite BILL PEYTO looks a nice type for Simcock and with the stylish Jamie Spencer in the saddle we could see one of them rides when he cruises up without moving a muscle to win easily but at the time of writing Wizard is available at 5s so a small each-way bet for me as ground concerns and first timeout is always a worry.

16:50 Kempton 04 Nov 2020 

The 2-year-old racing on Wednesday looks fantastic but a day to watch and take notes. Saying that, I will be having a each-way bet on my next tracker who I backed first timeout. GIRL FROM IPANEMA comes from the Ed Walker (pictured) yard and William Buick takes the ride. The Fast Company filly is a 56,000 gns purchase for owner David Ward who also has the talented Starman in training with Ed. Looking at the result you would think she was disappointing but I thought she looked professional, maybe a touch keen, but was up with the pace and not knocked about. Hopefully an each-way bet is available come Wednesday. 

Good luck and thanks for reading.