Ante-Post Focus

Gary has tipped up the following winners this summer in his Ante-Post Focus column:

20-1 Wizard Of Eye, Victoria Cup 
12-1 Daiquiri Bay, Copper Horse Handicap
25-1 Align The Stars, Northumberland Plate
14-1 Daiquiri Bay, Ebor Handicap
16-1 Pina Sonata, Sceptre Fillies' Stakes

Published 15/09

INSANITY is fresher than usual for the time of year and I’m banking on Alan King having him back on song for the Dubai Duty Free Autumn Cup at Newbury on Saturday - live on Sky Sports Racing.

The six-year-old has put up several good efforts in this grade of handicap over the last couple of seasons and is back to the mark off which he finished a neck second over 1m4f at last year’s York Ebor meeting and 2lb lower than when again finishing runner-up there in October.

Successful at Ayr over this slightly longer trip prior to those gallant efforts, he looked to have retained all his ability when a staying-on second over 1m2f at Pontefract on this season’s reappearance in April.

The Duke Of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot next time proved a bridge too far - though his 10-1 SP suggested better was expected - and he ran below par again in the Shergar Cup last time after another two-month absence.

Both those runs were on fast ground during an unusually hot summer and, at his age, it’s entirely possible he’ll appreciate the bit more give underfoot he’s likely to get here.

The key piece of form from a value-seeking perspective is the first of those two York seconds last year. He’s 5lb better off with the third that day, French Duke, yet is twice the price and more of that rival in the early betting.

Furthermore, it is form that has been boosted by the winner Asgard’s Captain, who has since gained three more victories and gone up 7lb in the process, lending weight to the notion that the lightly-campaigned selection may be capable of adding to his tally off this sort of mark.

Published 24/08

CENTIGRADE warmed up for a possible tilt at the Cambridgeshire Handicap with a better effort than the bare result suggests at York last week, and he looks worth backing at big prices for the first leg of the autumn double.

Ralph Beckett’s lightly raced four-year-old was making a belated handicap debut on the Knavesmire where, despite his relative inexperience, he started a well-backed 5-2 favourite in a 14-strong field over a mile.

On the face of it his never-dangerous sixth was disappointing, but that market support indicates he’s considered well-treated off an opening mark of 102 and there’s encouragement from the manner in which he finished in adverse circumstances the way the race was run.

The trailblazing Mirsky, who went off too hard, set things up perfectly for The Lost King, who sat a sensible second before forging clear two out, while runner-up Bullet Point and third home Spell Master also benefitted from prominent rides.

Centigrade, returning from a nine-week break after a Southwell novice stroll that followed a 20-month absence, had a less straightforward passage, fighting for his head in the early stages under a hold-up ride, wasting energy in the process and caught further back than ideal when the race began in earnest.

Visually he caught the eye, making up a good four or five lengths on the winner in the last couple of furlongs, and the race data backs that up as he recorded the fastest closing splits.

That first handicap experience should stand him in good stead, the extra furlong at Newmarket looks sure to suit and his strong maiden/novice two-year-old form still rates highly in relation to his mark, tying in closely with subsequent Group winners Jonquil and Furthur along with Saturday’s Ebor hero Daiquiri Bay.