Baffled by Tom Lacey

[droffats]

Now this is a reason why I seldom punt these days. Tom Lacey sends Sebastopol to Ayr today. It is a horse I like and follow. By the way I did not have a bet in the race and I will explain why in a moment.
I backed it first time up at Cheltenham and it ran agood race. However reports from Tom Lacey said the horse came back with a nasty wound on its leg and Aidan Coleman said it did not like the ground as it was tacky and it would prefer better going. The gorund was officially good. It’s 2 wins in it’s bumpers were on good going.
So today he sends him to Ayr and I see a report where he says that the horse will not run if the going is soft. After the first race the going is described as soft and tacky. I then think he will pull it out.
But no it is backed off the boards from 8/13 to 2/5 and as I suspected it ran way below form. Hence not having a bet.
Now that as me competely baffled. Why did he do that.
Surely punters deserve better that that and if we had professional stewards with the information I have given above they could have asked him to explain why the horse ran. I know that is his perogagtive to run but surely after all that he as said before the horse cannot win.
It just makes me wonder why I still bother.

[TheKryptonFactor]

A lot of favourites have been backed to silly prices over the last 18 months or so, especially in lower grade (or more accurately in the case of this Ayr race, more obscure) racing. The Stewarding situation in this country is farcical, on that front I agree, but trainers are often under a lot of pressure from connections to make excuses for a poor run, to appease connections who like to believe they have the next Kauto Star or Istabraq. I’m not convinced that Sebastopol ran miles below form, either. The race could be deceptively strong. Firstly, Whoshothesheriff was sent off 6/5 himself for his bumper debut and was bought for 40,000 at the Doncaster sales (stayed with Gordon Elliott). He appears well regarded. Secondly, Dali Mail had bolted up on 2 of his last 3 starts (both weak contests, admittedly). Lacey may have calculated, incorrectly, that he would be good enough to pick up the prize money in an Ayr novice hurdle without taking into account that the contest was far stronger than most Northern novice hurdles that will be held this season.

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