KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #11 WEDNESDAY 14th APRIL

 Welcome to Kempton Park racecourse a season of evening meetings following the events on a Wednesday night on the all weather flat track under the lights. We will be blogging throughout 2021 till the end of the year. Started well this season pleasantly still ahead as we enter April. The sporting weekend was of course over shadowed by the sad passing of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the grand age of 99, but we did see history made at Aintree's Grand National  last weekend by Rachael Blackmore riding Minella Times to victory in the big race and my beloved AFC Wimbledon are out of the bottom four now (up to 19th place in League One) after their outstanding 1-5 away victory against the mighty Accrington Stanley, they also faced promotion chasing Ipswich Town on Tuesday prior to this meeting and picked up another win 3-0 which helps to keep us ahead of the relegation battle with only a handful of games to go.

Returning to the horse racing all results here are reported to 1pt at Starting Prices (SP) we will be keeping a rolling record of profit/loss all the way through from January till the Boxing Day 'King George' fixture in December. A successful opening first quarter in 2021 means we arrive here with a +27.68 profit and will continue to keep a record to SP throughout the season.

Throughout the year we will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of anticipated short priced favourites too. Naturally we will keep these results separately from the handicap figures we had been fairly successful with our selections throughout last year managed to get plenty of favourites beat so we finished on 33/49 (67.34%). We reset the counters for 2021 and will be continuing this throughout the year again. Currently standing at 11/15 (73.33%) after the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress during the year ahead. 

This week will be our eleventh Wednesday evening meeting of the year although sadly it's still being held behind closed doors even as we begin to see signs of lockdown easing, a roadmap to a more normal life is in progress though I feel we won't be going racing till late May at best. Looking at tonight's meeting we shall expect an eight race card now with the final handicap having been divided, there are now six handicaps for us to review. Our action will now commence a little earlier now at about 16:40 with a seven furlong handicap, then we should end the card around about 20:15 with our final handicap event again over seven furlongs. 

Here's a link to this Wednesday's race card; RACECARD

Going and Weather -- The going on the polytrack surface is described as 'standard to slow' and the current weather forecast for this Wednesday is that it's going to be a cloudy day here and a high of only 12C expected tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

16:40  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (3yo)
7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

Plenty of 3yo action this evening our opening handicap has a max field of fourteen runners, COSMOS RAJ [2nd 10/3] placed a couple of times in his opening three runs, now in a handicap against his own age group should have a good chance here off a fair mark. 

KODIAC BROWN BEAR [WON 7/1] has had plenty experience, more than most here, having started off in handicaps on a mark of 70, now rated 57 this looks more suitable for his three year old campaign ought to be close again if he can repeat his runner up effort at Southwell, now has 3lb claimer Connor Murtagh although it's his first run on the surface.

17:15  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Fillies' Handicap (3yo)

1m 3f 219y  [Class 4  6 runners]

Short price runner here with Nellie Moon (Mrs A Perrett) looking to go favourite now, so we'll chance two bigger price selections against that one. LIVIA THE EMPRESS [4th 9/2] a Chelmsford winner and placed elsewhere on the all weather tracks for trainer George Scott, looks consistent with her weight allowance plus Laura Pearson's 5lb claim bringing her into the equation. 

SECRET SHADOW [3rd 13/2] has run three times so far and enters her first handicap so could have a lot to say for her top trainer Andrew Balding and 16/1 against the potential short odds shot looks an attractive option.

18:45  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Handicap

1m  [Class 4  11 runners]

Nice and open contest the betting shows about 5/1 the field, SILVER DUST [9th 16/1] represents Richard Fahey and is a course winner over the trip last March, has continued to run well even off these higher handicap marks and should be running well once more here

A winner here more recently TOMMY ROCK [5th 11/1] is often held up for a run and if allowed to kick for home a bit sooner should be involved in the finish again even in this slightly higher grade and 16/1+ looks a decent place option too.

19:15  Wise Betting At racingtv.com Handicap (3yo)

1m  [Class 6  14 runners]

The filly Final Fantasy looks like a short price favourite for this handicap event so we'll try a pair elsewhere against her, they are all three year olds, TOKYO CHIC [Non Runner] was runner up here to Final Fantasy a couple of weeks ago and is worth a chance once more in this low grade appeared to be running on at the end of that race and might be able to reverse fortunes with only half a length to make up. 

Also looking at DEVIL'S CLUB [3rd 5/2f] who has placed here before in nursery events last year, has had a break since and if ready to roll as a 3yo would be interesting in the market.

19:45  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap (Div One)

7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

Our final handicap tonight has been separated into two divisions, the opening event sees our regular VIOLA PARK [Non Runner] at the head of affairs, won twice not long ago and returns to the scene of the latter win with a strong chance in this grade. 

Regular Wolves runner UNAPOLOGETIC [WON 6/1] has dropped down to a nice mark and is 4lb lower than her runner up effort in December, with jockey Connor Murtagh taking off a further 3lb must be in with a chance over this trip she seems to stay on and might be worth a look over a mile later too.

20:15  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap (Div Two)

7f  [Class 6  14 runners]

The second division also has a maximum field STREET POET [3rd 11/1] does appear to be a Wolves stalwart, but when seen here last finished runner up to Viola Park (late non runner in previous race) and a multiple winner off higher marks too. 

Sir Mark Todd trains filly KYLLINGA [Non Runner] and while she remains a maiden the trainer has had some success and her last three efforts over this trip haven't been too shabby, it's a low mark to exploit and a decent price as a result.

Staked -- 12 points.       Returns -- 18 points.
Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. All results are accurate and recorded to SP returns to a 1pt win stake only and updated each meeting. Our winning start to 2021 continues and these first few months have proved to be successful our overall profit stands at +27.68 pts after meeting #10. We will update tonight's meeting #11 during the course of this evening. Another profitable week with few nice winners and places, profit of +6 points to SP taking us to +33.68 pts.

Lays -- 11/15 We had a good season last year again with the lays, aiming at favourites and not afraid to take on short odds on shots too. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. Successful lay selection tonight so now 12/16 overall.

Tonight's Lays;

17:45 - Isola Rossa  [6f Novice Stakes]. Lost 3rd 4/1

Our next midweek floodlit meeting here will be held on Wednesday 5th May so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.