In the itv sweepstake for the Wokingham I've drawn ROYAL COMMANDO 40/1
Ive backed this as well- 66/1 6 Places
Like Gulliver in the Wokingham 22/1 8 places, always runs well in big Handicaps
Surely Stratum is too big at 14s in the last race, Willie always has em spot on for Ascot and he won it last year
Just wondering if the hood episode with Lord North Wednesday affected Frankie's confidence as he seemed too worried about his situation rather than ride positively.
Unusual to see him so restless so early in a race as he was in Gold Cup.
He had the horse and reputation to own the inside and indeed the race.
Is he just getting a little windy in his old age; remember his strop with Dylan McMonagle last year ?
For all that it happened to more than Lanfranco and discard him at your peril.
Aye; Phil Bull was a former maths teacher, but would turn in his grave if he saw how race-reading had been reduced to mechanical number crunching .
Love it. Classic case of looking at sectionals and not reading how the race unfolded. Going by this Mojo Star should have won!
It's been said,more than once, that Dick Whitford was responsible for much 0f Timeform's early success, and judged on his ratings in the old Sporting Life, that's entirely credible.It was Phil Bull who started it all, though, with Timeform. He always worked on the basis that a good horse can run a poor time, but a poor horse can’t run a good time.
Isn't that a wee bit of a literal interpretation, Frankel?
I'm not interpreting it as Mojo Star 'should have won'. It's just one angle to a more complex bigger picture.
Run the race again next month and I wouldn't be backing MS to turn the tables. It was an unsatisfactory race all round (unless you backed the winner) and I would be doubtful of the pace element recurring.
But I do find the sectional approach fascinating. It's very unusual, I think, for mark-ups of over 40. That would be enough for me to dismiss the form as meaningful. It just means Kyprios wasn't as slow on the day as the others in what amounted to a public gallop.
Strad did look unlucky in running but I'm not convinced he would have won with a clear run down the rail. And even if he had won it would have put another nail in the coffin of quality of stayers. He's no longer a 120+ horse and it would have meant all the ones behind would have been even more modest.
Hopefully the next staying championship race will give all the protagonists a chance to prove their true worth.