Cambridgeshire 2017

First part of The Autumn Double, and just the 134 entries to sift through.

Spark Plug is in there again, and after last years heroics, I would love to see him land it, but life will be tougher here off of 6lbs higher, but it certainly ain’t beyond him.

On his Newbury form from April, the Luca Cumani trained Banksea must have a live chance, but he does have a rather tame effort in The Hunt Cup to forgive. Nonetheless he looks a contender.

You have to go a long way back to make a case for Battle of Marathon, but his third in last years Lincoln does give him an outside squeak, though even a quick glance would suggest he requires a leap of faith. He’s priced accordingly at 50’s, but he’s been dropped a serious amount since his last run, and that makes him worthy of a mention here I reckon.

Talking of The Lincoln, this years winner, Bravery, looks massively overpriced at 40’s. If you check out his last run at Goodwood, where he had the burden of my cash, he looked to be doing plenty right, and though eventually finishing 9th, he was immediate “notebook” material. Already lower than the mark he won off of at Doncaster a few months back, he’s definite shortlist material.

That Goodwood race was “won” by Dark Red, and though he lost it in the stewards room, for only a 4lb rise, he looks treated well enough to land a blow here.

From the Charlie Fellowes yard, Chiefofchiefs has caught the eye this year. Yes, his last run wasn’t the best, and he’d be relativelty inexperienced for something like this, he still looks as if he could be an interesting outsider on the day, should he scrape in.

El Hayem was a very nice winner at Sandown last time, and he’s a very interesting runner at York tomorrow. He looks very well weighted, at this moment, but obviously one to hold off on, until tomorrow at the very least. Right now, he’s a very big 20’s.

Behind El Hayem at Sandown, was my old pal G M Hopkins. Had no luck in this last year, but I think, despite being a relative disappointment in The Betfred Mile, I think that Sandown run is an accurate reflection of where he’s at, and I suppose you could argue that he didn’t get the best of runs at Goodwood anyway. Possibly just a shade high in the weights on what he’s done recently, but the mark isn’t beyond him, and I think he comes here with a very similar profile to last years winner, Spark Plug.

The Iain Jardine trained Hibou, would be a relative unnkown here, but he’s worth checking out. Another who’s recently had the burden of my cash on him, but wins at Hamilton, and a place at a very nice price at Galway, shows that that hasn’t been enough to stop him. He only found a Mullins hotpot too good for him last time. He’ll probably need a bit of juice in the ground, but he’s a smart prospect when he gets his conditions, so if you do a raindance, then that 33’s is massive.

Like Hibou, I suspect that Isomer might need the a bit of rain, but despite being another with not much miles on the clock, I did think he looked a decent prospect last year, and I wouldn’t be in a rush to write him off too early.

I love Master The World, not least due to the favour he did me in The Betfred Mile, and despite the nature of that win, I think he won with a bit in hand, he’s not looking that badly treated here. He looked as good as ever in a hot little Group 3 at Salisbury last week, and he had absolutely no luck in running, getting into a pocket. The winner that day, Ballet Concerto, is a serious horse too, but it was Master The Worlds race to lose, and with a better ride, would have won (not pocket talk) so he must be given serious consideration here again. I might just desert him this time, but I’ll be delighted to see him do it.

Mythical Madness was behind Master The World that day, but he ran better than his position suggested, and there’s no way he deserves to be as big as 66’s.

I like Jim Goldie raiders in these big handicaps, and Nicholas T fit’s the bill here. I’ve mentioned him a few times already, and he was always going to be on my radar for this, not least off the back of his last run at Ascot. Another who’s on the shortlist.

UAE Prince is a fairly consistent type, and he catches the eye here with the drop down in trip, that could just be the making of him, and no surprise to see him near the head of the market.

The Kevin Ryan trained Weekend Offender is coming along nicely, and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of his improvement. Versatile trip wise, and this race looks right up his street. I thought he’d be bigger than 20’s, and clearly the firms that have priced it up, also like the look of him.

Loads to chew over then, but the 2 I wanted to see in there, are both, indeed, in there, and I can’t resist early plays on Belgian Bill & Dolphin Vista. This is an extremely risky approach, as both have caught me out in the past with my AP cash on them. Belgian Bill was a late withdrawal from The Betfred Mile, while Dolphin Vista caught me out in this last year.

Risky then, but they’re both at smashing prices. Belgian Bill is a particular favourite of mine, and I was just delighted to see him getting a (very) rare trot out over 7 furlongs on Saturday, and not surprisingly, he was out of the frame. I think “there’s life in the old dog yet”, and I was hoping he’d get dropped a pound, maybe two, but he got dropped 4, and that’s enough for me. 50’s is massive.

40’s for Dolphin Vista is also massive. He should have won The Lincoln this year (this is pocket talk lol), and with a few pounds taken off him, I just have to be with him again. He’s won over 1 mile 2, but I think a mile his best trip, and I’m hoping that Martyn Meade, who he’s recently moved to, targets him for this.

Clearly, it would be madness to have a serious go at this stage in a race like this, but I really do like this pair, and they would be my main fancies, so I’ve had a few quid on. Plenty mentioned already (and obviously dozens who I haven’t mentioned) who look to have equally good chances, so that should be more than enough, but as this is a race I would have 3 on the day, I’m sticking my neck out, and having 3 Ante-Post, which could be plain daft, but I’m giving it a bash.

I’ll top up should they go bigger, either with the books, or on the exchanges, but these are the 3 for me at the moment, and I’ve covered the 5 places….

Belgian Bill 50’s
Bravery 40’s
Dolphin Vista 40’s

GL