KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #18 WEDNESDAY 7th JULY

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 continue blogging throughout 2021 till the end of the year. Started well this season pleasantly still ahead as we reached the latter part of June. We've been following the delayed 2020 European Championship and England vs Ukraine on Saturday evening ended in a superb 4-0 win in Rome and we will return to Wembley to play Denmark on Wednesday night this week for the right to meet Italy on Sunday in the final (Italy beat Spain on penalties). The Wimbledon tennis championships continue into their second week though Andy Murray bowed out on Friday night we still have Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer to enjoy in the men's draw and I was enjoying the fun and antics in the mixed doubles where Venus Williams has paired up with Nick Kyrgios sadly though Nick has been injured and they had to forfeit their match on Monday. 

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 half of the year during 2021 came to an end with the last meeting and we've fallen behind for the first time with a loss to report of -6.195 points but we 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 19/26 (73%) after the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress during the year ahead. 

This week will be our eighteenth Wednesday evening meeting of the year. Tonight's meeting we shall now be expecting a six  race card with five handicaps for us to review. Our action will now commence at 17:15 with the first of our handicap events over seven furlongs, then we should end the card around about 19:45 with our final handicap event over a mile, there are no feature races tonight on what appears to be a fairly average midweek meeting here, looks like race times have been brought forward so that the meeting ends before the England vs Denmark game kicks off at 8pm.

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 for a somewhat warmer afternoon and early evening with a serious chance of showers in the forecast and a higher temperature of around 20C tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

17:15  Try Our New Price Boosts At Unibet Apprentice Handicap
7f  [Class 4  9 runners]

The opening race on the card is our first handicap event for apprentice jockeys, a field of nine headed by Eagle Creek who still seems to be in the grip of the handicapper. Swiss Pride has been running very well at Lingfield over 6f so this change of course and step up in trip posses some questions and is overlooked here. QUICK BREATH [3rd @3/1f] looks one to follow, already a course / distance winner was then runner up over a mile and the step back in trip is no surprise, ought to be close along with SAYIFYOUWILL [4th @11/2] a 3yo recent course win over this trip and Saffie Osborne riding well this season that would be my pair here against the field.
Winner - (4) Gavi Di Gavi @20/1 [Georgia King].

18:15  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Handicap
1m 7f 218y  [Class 5  11 runners]

Time for the stayers to show their stuff, when last seen the 4yo filly STORM CHASER [8th @9/1] [M Channon] was staying on at Wolves and this trip should see her go close once more she's only contesting her sixth race overall with James Doyle again riding. SCUDAMORE [10th @7/1] [I Furtado] is an aptly named stayer, the NH sphere is fully of family representatives with Michael, Peter and Tom, won two of his last four runs and continues to show plenty of promise over the longer trips, third here last time albeit a beaten favourite but bounced back before and certainly one of the more likely types tonight. Sean Levey rides who has been amongst the winners lately too.
Winner - (3) Potenza @11/8f [Theodore Ladd].

18:45  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Handicap

1m 2f 219y  [Class 5  11 runners]

This race could be a snip for Roger Charlton's Keeper as his 3yo Frankel colt has sneaked into the bottom of this handicap after an easy win at Brighton, but was a non runner earlier in week so not guaranteed to show here. Should handle the all weather surface but as it appears to be showing as odds on favourite again which would put us off in an handicap so we will look at a pair to take it on with tonight. KENTUCKY KINGDOM [6th @33/1] has a few wins at Chelmsford to recommend them, this is slight step up but likely to give the favourite most to think about. At a huge price we have KEEP IT BRIEF [WON @50/1] who has won here by a good margin in a similar looking contest and a repeat of that form would see him belie his 50/1 price. - well done great ride from James Doyle not only won but by SEVEN lengths. 
Winner - (4) KEEP IT BRIEF @50/1 [James Doyle].

19:15  Unibet Casino Deposit 10 Get 40 Bonus Handicap (3yo)

1m  [Class 6  11 runners]

An easy winner last time out at Chepstow CREMA INGLESA [5th @7/2] could easily follow up here for the Osborne yard, Saffie claiming 5lb is a plus, further improvement as a 3yo wouldn't not be ruled out. GOLDEN CLAIM [WON @4/1] returns to the mile trip and won at Wolves over that trip before running well enough over further at Lingfield (3rd of 11 beaten 2 3/4L) while support for Sir Mark Prescott's Carpentier might also be significant, was runner up over a mile here two starts ago, didn't seem to stay the extended trip next time and the trainers 3yo's can often show plenty of improvement in this lowly grade.

Winner - (9) Golden Claim @4/1 [S M Levey].

19:45  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap

1m  [Class 6  14 runners]

Our finale this evening another race over a mile, and as I am getting ready for the Euro Semi Final will simply side with OUD METHA BRIDGE [3rd @11/2] who's run here a number of times winning back in November and off a similar mark together win a 5lb claimer to effectively put them back in with a winning chance. I'll also throw in FAR FROM A RUBY [WON @11/4] who is being slightly eased in the weights now and with Hollie Doyle on board with a low weight in this handicap could go well at a price, those are my pair against the field tonight.
Winner - (14) Far From A Ruby @11/4 [Hollie Doyle].

Staked -- 10 points.       Returns -- 59.75 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 has stalled a little of late however the first half of the year has proved to be successful even with the last meeting being a bit of a disaster we've fallen behind for the first time with a loss to report of -6.195 points, still a huge improvement on this time last year though, with all results recorded to SP returns we would have been looking at better figures with the prices taken. A huge winner already and we'll be back in a clear profit this week before the break, ended up winning the last three handicaps and a profit on the night of +49.75 points tonight to wipe out the deficit and bring us back ahead +43.555 points going forwards. 

Lays -- 19/26 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. These continue to go quite well given we are half way through the year, and they are generally very short prices, including two beaten favourites last time. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. Another success tonight, so we now stand at 20/27.

Tonight's Lays;

17:45 - Lady Fantasia  [6f 2yo fillies novice stakes]. Lost 4th 

Bit of a break until the next midweek floodlit meeting here which will be held on Wednesday 4th August so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.