Cambrideshire

This weekend is my favourite of the whole flat season and as well as having a few bets lined up for the Arc I also have one for Newmarket's big handicap tomorrow.

Sirvino was most impressive when winning the John Smith's at York in June and has been kept fresh for this by his trainer. I always look for a horse that's won over a mile and a quarter for this 9f race over the Rowley Mile and my fancy qualifies on that score and hopefully can follow up like Pasternak did a few years back also at around 10/1. The second at York, who I backed, has run well in a couple of Group races since and overall the form has a solid look to it.

Sirvino £50win @ 105/10

QE11

Short notice this but I did suspect that Delegator may drift to a backable price for this and i'm correct. This morning they were going 8/13 Rip Van Winkle and 9/4 Delegator at Corals and those prices looked the most accurate to me. The Godolphin animal is over 3/1 at Betfair now and he has to be backed at this price.

Delegator £50win @ 41/10

Portland

I put down Johannes as a horse to follow after his win at the Glorious Goodwood meeting. Unfortunately my biggest failing as a punter is a lack of dilligence sometimes. He ran at Ripon on 22nd Auguest but because it wasn't a major maeeting I missed it. He won by 2 lengths plus and would have been a bet at the 9/2 available in the morning. Downer.

Anyway, he runs in the Portland today and his win at the aforementioned Goodwood (an easy 6f) suggests that the 5 and a half furlong trip of this big handicap won't be too much of an inconvenience.

Johannes £50win @ 9/1

St Leger

Not a big fan of this race to be honest as i've only backed the winner once (User Friendly)

But anyway, I think we have an angle with which to attack the contest this year. Basically, I don't like Kite Wood's form and I think the Voltigeur, in which Monitor Closely and Father Time were first and third is pretty worthless given that Harbinger and Alwaary ran way below form. So, that leaves us with Changingoftheguard who ran a terrific race in the Ebor given that he was left at the gate when the stalls opened and had to keep battling through horses, waeaving his way this way and that. The horse is tough, battle hardened and will stay. I make him a decent bet at 100/30. Mourayan has form that ties in with Fame and Glory and although i'd like softer ground for him, he is a plodder who will nevertheless relish the step up in trip. Not convinced he'll win but he's a sporting wach way selection.

Changingoftheguard £40win @100/30
Mourayan £2oEway @ 82/10

5th September

I've already mentioned my ante-post wager on High Standing for today's Sprint Cup at Haydock. I've had a slight top up and also covered on Finjaan. I feel Tregoning's animal may improve for the drop back in trip (he has a very sprint orientated pedigree) and I see him as the main danger.

Over at Leopardstown for the Irish Champion Stakes i'm on Fame and Glory again. I punted him at 7/4 a few weeks with the hope that Sea the Stars wouldn't run but that isn't the case. Luckily the star of the season was a doubt up until today and Betfair lay merchants gave me some 5s for a small amount - since topped up.

Fame and Glory £70w @ 7/4
Sea the Stars £25w @ 37/10

High Standing £40w @ 11/2
Finjaan £25w @ 56/10

High Standing

I've backed this horse in each of his last two wins and shall not be deserting him as he prepares to step up to Group 1 level. I'm not a fan of Group sprints as the horses involved tend to take turns beating each other up. But High Standing brings a different strand of form to the track and at 6/1 for the Haydock Park Sprint Cup in a week or so he must be backed and backed now as I can see him being 7/2 on the day. I'll be topping up nearer the time as well

High Standing £30win @ 6/1 (ap)

York Day 3

I punted Roaring Forte in the big handicap on King George day at Ascot and basically over the straight seven they went too fast and he couldn't get to lead. Round a turn and over a mile today at York I hope the Haggas colt can make amends.

I'm taking on Sariska in the Yorkshire Oaks and she is my first lay of the season. Sea the Stars was a similar price on Tuesday but his form was far more bombproof.

Roaring Forte £40win @ 10/1
Sariska Laid @ 37/100 for £60 (liability £21.60)

York Day 2

Didn't get time to post yesterday but I had two bets that both went down :<

Red Merlin £40win @ 9/1
Changingoftheguard £40win @ 5/2

Ebor Meeting - Day 1

With the International Stakes looking like a walkover for the awesome Sea the Stars i've turned to the Voltigeur for my only bet today. I've already backed Harbinger for the St Leger at 11/2 as I think the colt has bags of scope. His wins at Chester and Goodwood were impressive enough, even more so when one considers what a big horse Stoute's charge is. I think he will relish York and Doncaster as opposed to those tight undulating tracks and the only concern with the Leger bet is that if he is impressive today Sir Michael might sidetrack the final classic. The rest of the contenders today don't frighten me in the slightest, Alwaary for me was flattered to get within 5 lengths of the winner in the King George. Father Time shoulders a penalty and Jukebox Jury won a terrible Group race last time out and hasn't ran over the trip before.

Harbinger £60win @ 21/10

Rose of Lancaster

I like Duncan in the Rose of Lancaster today at sunny Haydock. If you ignore his first career run he's had 8 races and the only time he hasn't been placed were in 3 contests all at Newmarket (two on the Rowley Mile and last time out on the July).

They went a crawl in the Princess of Wales and he never settled. Here, over a shorter trip and with two front runners I think he can put that weak effort behind him. Campanologist seems a different animal away from Ascot and the rest aren't up to much.

Duncan £40win @ 31/10