Saturday 19h September 2015

A busy morning ahead, I and the owners of Rhythm Star & Kenobe Star are visiting Jamie Snowden’s yard to watch their horses work on the Lambourn gallops. Jamie is a great host whilst his friendly staff are a credit to the yard. A stable tour will take place after the mornings work followed by a free cooked breakfast that we always put on for members in the local pub.

Ayr’s feature meeting of the year started a few days ago, nothing has taken the eye so far but I’ve placed a few bets on Saturday. Both run in the two big sprint races so an awful amount of luck in running will be required

First up is The William Hill Ayr Silver Cup run at 2:35. Johara is the selection EW trained by the excellent Chris Wall.

I’ve been waiting for this filly to run since her comeback effort after a year off the track. Johara looked very progressive last year and showed all her ability remains intact with an excellent 4^th of 20 at Thirsk last month.

The finishing position doesn’t tell the full story as Johara didn’t get the breaks when required whilst she finished like a train. I would also be confident in saying Johara wouldn’t have been full fit & ready to go either after a year off as the Chris Wall horses tend to improve plenty for the initial outing.

We could do with some overnight rain but providing the going doesn’t quicken too much I’m hopeful Johara can run a big race. Stall 25 is grand plus jockey Ted Durcan knows the filly well. 8-1 isn’t great odds in a race of this nature but everything looks primed for a decent effort.

The William Hill Gold Cup is a puzzle, maybe Algar Lad can go well priced at 25-1 EW.

The horse won over six furlongs a few starts ago but has been unlucky since when failing to find the gaps at the right time then running on strongly once in the clear.

Stall 24 is again grand whilst it’s possible there’s more improvement to come over the six furlong trip for this horse as he’s unexposed over the distance. Trainer David O’Meara remains in sound form plus regular pilot Sam James keeps the ride.

Ensure you shop around and bet with bookies paying 5 places in both races. The double pays 233-1, we can dream but it would be rude not too have a few quid on.