Poetry Gratis...

Dear All

I hope some of you collected on Rossvoss in the last at Galway today. I didn't!

It was a good example of being intoxicated by a big yard... it was a maiden race and, as you will know by now, these types of contest are one of my favourite disciplines. The RPRs suggested to me that the fancied runners were unlikely winners.

Poinsettia was interesting to me because first and foremost she was trained at Ballydoyle, there was good form from an earlier outing which achieved an 80+ RPR and, importantly, the odds were juicy... I thought a winning angle had been discovered. She had though run only 5 days earlier and was pulled up; a reappearance after such a short time, having been pulled up, indicated to me that there was no injury. Today was the day!

Nevertheless, I was concerned that the price was continuously getting bigger. Poinsettia was well beaten; finishing a distant last of nine runners.

Rossvoss, on the other hand, had the following numbers sgainst his name 6856 and on the face of it and being from an unfashionable yard (at least in Flat racing terms) was not a betting prospect. Delve deeper into the numbers though and a more compelling argument could be formed. Look at the quality of the races he appeared in as a juvenile, albeit, some way back. The yard obviously believed the colt to have some ability. He was a close-up 5th in the Beresford Stakes, a highly respected Derby trial. These contests enabled him to post the best RPR of any runner in today's race.

A chance missed!

Tomorrow, I have unearthed - not a particularly startling discovery - a little nugget at Goodwood. Watch the Racing Post videos of the two efforts posted by Free Verse (owned by The Queen)and be impressed by her winning debut performance over 6-furlongs at Windsor. The drop down to 5-furlongs was probably not in her favour next time up in class in the Listed St Hugh's Stakes at Newbury but I suspect the draw was more significant. The first 3 home that day were in stalls 2,5 and 1. Free Verse was drawn 14 and never got into contention.

Tomorrow she looks a good thing on her Nursery debut at Goodwood; joint top RPR and clear Topspeed. I have already backed her at 4s with Bet365 buoyed by the excellent record of Hannon and Hughes at the course.

Happy punting!

Rm(M)