3:30 Brighton – Bloodsweatandtears @ 9/1* (each-way) *14/1 SP
William Knight’s eight year-old won this race last year and, now 12 months on, makes plenty of appeal once again. The early price quoted for this one is particularly eye-catching.
Considering we’re talking about an eight year-old handicapper at the lower end of the spectrum, Bloodsweatandtears has been relatively lightly campaigned over the last few years and it is fancied that, much like last year, this race has been targeted.
Having only had three runs in 2016 – one of which being a 3rd place finish over C&D – before spending 70 days away from the track, the gelding performed with plenty of credit, once again over C&D, when finishing 2nd on reappearance back at the end of June. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that performance, in fact, in relation to today’s race, it’s an encouraging piece of form.
With three wins and three places to his name, Brighton seems to be a venue that this horse favours and, considering he hasn’t raced since what was a very promising reappearance, he might just have been kept back with this contest in mind.
0-60 company is a drop down and this race looks the weakest he will have contested in some time. A drop in class does of course mean a heavier weight, but, even off top-weight, if running to something near the level of form produced last time out, this runner should be capable of outclassing most if not all of this field.
16:00 Brighton – Bingo George @ 13/2 (each-way)
Andrew Balding sends just the one runner to Brighton today. That horse is Bingo George, who, at appealing odds, looks one to be on.
On the face of it this horse probably wouldn’t make much appeal, but if we look a little deeper, considering the competitiveness (or rather un-competitiveness) of this race, he makes plenty.
Having performed modestly in a trio of maidens, this lightly raced three year-old was originally awarded a handicap rating of 74. In fairness that’s probably a stretch beyond him. However, after some mixed efforts in a handful of handicaps, he’s down to a very realistic 62. Couple this lowly rating with the drop in grade (now 0-65 company) and there’s plenty of reason to think this gelding will run well.
A pleasing run over C&D (Class 5) on his penultimate start looks encouraging form. If he’s capable of reproducing that effort in this race (Class 6) then he’d surely go close.
All things considered, at the prices, this one certainly catches the eye. If Bingo George is going to win a race before he’s much older it’s highly likely to be a race of this nature. With that in mind, at 13/2, he’s worth being on.
5:05 Brighton – Indian Tinker @ 7/2
Robert Cowell’s Indian Tinker may not have won for some time but he’s generally been contesting tougher races than this one. Down in grade here, the seven year-old appears to have a strong chance.
Although he’s never actually won at this venue, Brighton is a track where the gelding has generally performed well by placing on three of his five starts – three out of four over C&D. Consider this in conjunction with the fact that he is now back down to his last winning mark and it’s not hard to see this horse running a big race.
The level of form shown by this runner over the past season hasn’t exactly been inspiring, although he has gone close on a couple of occasions – once at Newmarket in a Class 4 and once at Nottingham in a better looking Class 5 than today’s contest. This will be the first time the horse has dropped into 0-70 company for some time and, given some of his efforts in better races, a decent performance has to be on the cards.
Last time out, having tracked the leading pair before failing to go with them towards the end, he finished third of five at Yarmouth. Although it has to be said that he won’t be facing anything of quite the same quality in this race today, while the ground last time out was definitely faster than ideal.
Realistically it’s hard to see how this horse isn’t favoured ahead of the two joint favourites in the early market and there’s a good chance he’ll go off a bit shorter than the 7/2 available at the moment. Overall, we’re talking about a horse who has proving himself a dangerous opponent at this level in the past and, under suitable conditions, a good run is expected.
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