Well its D Day again for me tomorrow. Some may remember my last mug bet on Emaraaty Ana where i invested a straight £1k and it ran very flat and came a 3rd to admittedly a very good horse of Mark Johnstons. Up til then i d be blown away by its debut at Windsor where it thrashed Blown By Wind (of Johnstons), set a good time and put huge gaps between all the finishers. The fact then that Blown By Wind wins a listed and then runs a stormer at Ascot, you can see why my confidence was so high and 3/1 looked like a gift (to me!!!). Now on the day I saw negatives...Kevin Ryan couldnt buy a winner, he wasnt talking it up as much as he had and that the fact it was a long absence...ie the stuff that cries "NO BET"! But that performance at Windsor was the best 2yo debut since I saw Dancing brave so heart ruled head and i done my dough.
Normally i have the discipline to walk away but then i hear his daughter on Racing UK saying there were excuses! I don my Sherlock Holmes outfit and have spent weeks asking, probing and reading anything i could. I dont know Kevin Ryan but my Clousseau type (bungled no doubt) detective work suggests the excuses were: yard out of form at the time, it had suffered a setback (which seems true as it was definitely going to run in the National Stakes at the Curragh but was pulled the day before), it was tested after the race and blood count wasnt great but nothing serious but crucially the jockey said it felt listless going down and was spooked at the start (it did jink and linger while Johnstons bounced out and made all). The jock said he was always on the backfoot and had to stoke it as it wasnt doing a jot and became apparent it needed the run. He said it wasnt not the horse he rode at Ascot (Tom queally...how often does he ride for Ryan...he begged for it after Windsor).
Soooooooooooo here we are and its in the Gymcrack tomorrow! So Ryan has not lost faith and i have to back it. I have had £250 each way at 12/1 with Bet365 (still available only 9s with some). Ive looked at the field and its not great and Baldings appears to have the best form without winning in red hot races. But the rest are much of a muchness and if Ana runs the Windsor race it must have a chance. if it runs its last race ive done my wotsits...again!
So not tipping it...but sharing my pain! Cmon Ana!
Bad news. Pricewise tips it though to be fair, he's had a few winner's recently after a drought of about 2 years. How he's still employed as a tipster is well beyond me
I didn't comment on the thread last time, I didn't want to be a negative Nelly and jinx you Hippo... but the debut run was very impressive. I coudn't back it at the prices last time as it was an odd choice for the second start, and the spacing between races suggestive of a setback. Left it alone and rather "no comment" than go ruining your thread. At the time, I actually thought the run would be pipe opener for this very race, and that looks the case. I really like the jockey booking. With the stalls configuration as it is, they often go to fast making for the near rail, and if you look at yesterday, Spencer was wise to that and gave the one he was on a hold up ride - it's often the way to go with this set up. Space Traveller is the danger for me, I'll probably back the pair on the machine, but I do fancy yours and you've a nice price at 12's!. Wish you the best of luck with it!