There were seven horses declared with the RP tissue prices looking like this:
Evs Eccentric – trained by Jamie Osborne
4/1 Profitman
9/2 Niloufar
9/1 Rising Force
10/1 Clionia
14/1 Lightning Bay
20/1 Blacklion – trained by Jamie Osborne
Now Eccentric becomes a non-runner and all of a sudden stablemate Blacklion is a best-priced 13/8 chance.
Without speculating too much, but this doesn’t look right.
To be fair it was only 125-1 and beaten 12 lengths last time …. Hoods on , that’ll be the excuse , I mean it’s not as if Osbourne is a gambling yard …. Sorry I count write that with a straight face
Osborne is quite good at handicapping horses, especially with three poor runs in Maidens or Novice Stakes. They also switched jockeys and put Saffie on it.
“At the request of the Integrity Department of the British Horseracing Authority, Jamie Osborne, the trainer of BLACKLION and ECCENTRIC (IRE), was questioned by the Stewards before this race and asked to provide information regarding the withdrawal of ECCENTRIC (IRE), and the circumstances regarding the ownership of BLACKLION (IRE). Osborne’s comments were forwarded to the Integrity Department for further consideration.”
As regards the improvement in form Blacklion had been gelded since his last run in October and this was his first run in a handicap . It was Nicola Currie ‘s only scheduled ride at the meeting . Would she still have received her riding fee , full or part ?