KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #28 WEDNESDAY 27th OCTOBER

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 push on through the autumn still in profit and now only a couple more months of the season left to go. Elsewhere over the weekend gone we went to see AFC Wimbledon play against Wigan Athletic sadly losing 0-2 and will travel to Cambridge next Saturday and there's also been a few days of racing over the jumps at Cheltenham with F1 action later on over the pond at the US Grand Prix with another win for Max Verstappen and the season could well go to the wire.

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 went a little behind in July but now we are back in front during September and looking okay throughout October we've seen the profit for the season rise to +52.805 points with further success coming at the last meeting and 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 30/40 (75%) after another success at the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress during the year ahead. 

This week will be our 28th Wednesday evening meeting of the year. Tonight's meeting we shall be expecting an eight race card now with the split of the 7f novice stakes, we will still have five handicaps including a 2yo nursery contest. Therefore our action will now commence at 16:40 with the opening claiming race over six furlongs, then we should end the card around about 20:15 with the final handicap event over just under two miles tonight.

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 cloudy afternoon and early evening with a fair chance of showers in the forecast and a highest expected temperature of around 17C tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

17:15  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Nursery (2yo)

6f  [Class 5  11 runners]

Our opening handicap is a 2yo nursery event, the second race on the card today, where our first selection will be Helvetique [2nd @9/2]. Has run well twice at Nottingham when runner up and they came after a win at Chepstow earlier in the season. Only had the one run on any all weather surface and that was on debut at Chelmsford hopefully will have a better run this time. Also looking closely at Iskaheen [8th @17/2], trained by Dennis Coakley, only had four runs including a 125/1 placing at Windsor, is looking to be around 14/1 here tonight and will be of interest in the place market again.
Winner - (3) Wild Mountain @14/1 [Oisin Murphy].

18:45  Unibet Casino Deposit 10 Get 40 Bonus Handicap

1m  [Class 5  13 runners]

The mile contest has a field of fourteen, headed by hat trick seeking Proclaimer [WON @10/3], has two recent wins here for trainer Julie Camacho and only 4lb higher than the last of those likely to make another bold bid again. Florence Street [2nd @9/2] (Andrew Balding) might be close up again having run second at Bath off a similar mark. Owned by Sir Alex Ferguson and has the assistance of Oisin Murphy in the saddle, the 3yo filly is likely to be well supported here.
Winner - (1) Proclaimer @10/3 [R Kingscote].

19:15  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Handicap (3yo)

1m 3f 219y  [Class 3  6 runners]

Only seven runners though the Godolphin blue is carried by the first three here and it's Marching Army [Non Runner] that could well be the pick of these trio. He won another small race here last month and up 5lb for that effort, still could be the one to beat. Nadein [5th @13/2] has been lightly raced for Roger Charlton but his 3yo filly has already won at Catterick when well backed and probably found the 2m trip too far at Ffos Las, should be more at home here and the small field won't trouble her, decent price this time.
Winner - (4) Stay Well @6/1 [Rob Hornby].

19:45  Try Our New Price Boosts At Unibet Handicap

1m 3f 219y  [Class 5  9 runners]

Another competitive contests, field headed by Hashtagmetoo  for trainer Jamie Osborne who often does well here, a Bath win followed up by creditable efforts at the same venue and then at Wolves, likely to be close up. Victory Star makes his handicap debut, Mark Johnson's inmate won at Beverley and might have a fairly generous handicap mark to exploit as they step up in trip here.
Winner - (6) Liberated Lad @11/2 [R Kingscote].

20:15  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Handicap
1m 7f 218y  [Class 4  9 runners]

Over to the stayers to end tonight's meeting, Dance To Paris [4th @10/3]  is the first to peek our interest the 5yo mare is a course and distance winner and also won at York earlier in the season but was way out of her depth in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket last time and ought to show a lot better form tonight. Sarim [8th @9/1] is another to consider here despite not seeing the racecourse this season till now, Hollie Doyle a positive jockey booking for a horse that was narrowly defeated here at a big price.

Winner - (2) Author's Dream @10/3 [Oisin Murphy].

Staked - 10 points.       Returns - 5.33 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 returned and we are now back in the black to the tune of +52.805 points to a level stake at SP coming into this week's 28th meeting. Not enough success tonight, so a small loss of -4.67 points, reducing our overall season profit down to +48.135 points. 

Lays -- 30/40 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 into the final few months of the year, and they are generally very short prices, including another successful fav beaten during the last few meetings. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. One fav won at odds on, the other got well beat, so that's us on 31/42.

Tonight's Lays;

17:45 - Great Hunter [7f Novice Stakes]. Won @4/6F

19:15 - Candleford [12f 3yo Handicap].  Lost 5th @5/4F

We will have another midweek floodlit meeting here on Wednesday 3rd November so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.

AFC WIMBLEDON vs WIGAN ATHLETIC - LEAGUE ONE HOME FIXTURE 2021/22 SEASON [23rd OCTOBER]

Saturday 16th October 2021 3pm
AFC Wimbledon will host their latest League One game at Plough Lane for the 2021-22 season against Wigan Athletic, back to back league draws against Burton Albion and Sheffield Wednesday have halted the run of defeats at least but a win is long overdue to halt the slide down the table. Won't be easy against a strong looking Wigan side today. Both sides were in action on Tuesday night, Dons away to Lincoln City where a 5th minute penalty converted by Aaron Pressley was enough to separate the sides and provide a much needed win for the Wombles.

On the back of Tuesday nights game we are currently in 14th position in the league one table on 17 points. We anticipate further team news before the weekend with the fall out of that defeat and the news that Ollie Palmer is definitely out of the starting eleven which will mean reliance on Aaron Pressley and Ayoub Assal, hopefully Jack Rudoni is available too. Our manager Mark Robinson said that there's no panic in the Wimbledon ranks. Ollie Palmer will be assessed again, but unlikely to play, wasn't involved on Tuesday night either where we only had six players fit for the subs bench. Team news when we have it, Dapo Mebude’s fitness will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s home match. An update from James Simmonds included the latest on the forward who missed the midweek win at Lincoln due to illness. “Dapo didn’t train with the team today, but there is still a possibility that he will be involved tomorrow, he will have a late fitness test, but apart from him everyone else involved on Tuesday is fit and raring to go.”

Recent League One Results
Lincoln City 0 - 1 AFC Wimbledon.
Wigan Athletic 1 - 2 Mk Franchise FC.

Onto today's game itself this Saturday in League One and our opponents today, Wigan are managed by Leam Richardson who was appointed from caretaker to the permanent role in April 2021, previously with Accrington Stanley. After their opening 12 fixtures they sit in 4th place on 25 points. Wigan are captained by Tendayi Darikwa who is also a Zimbabwe international, main threat will come from Will Keane, the Republic of Ireland striker already has six for the season, they also have Charlie Wyke too who was with us on loan briefly and formally with Sunderland, very dangerous pairing up front.

Head to Head

Our head to head form against Wigan Athletic since our return to the league as AFC Wimbledon is brief with just the four encounters since 2017, that first game we lost 0-4 at least it got better, we beat them 3-2 in February 2021 at theirs, while the other two games have finished as draws.

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 23/10 [William Hill]

Tzanev (Gk),  Alexander,  Kalambayi,  Heneghan,  Guinness-Walker,  Woodyard(c),  Hartigan,  Rudoni,  McCormick,  Assal,  Pressley

SUBS - Oualah (Gk),  Lawrence,  Csoka,  Chislett,  Charles,  Osew,  Bartley

WIGAN ATHLETIC
Win Odds - 23/20 [William Hill]
Amos (Gk),  Power,  🟨Darikwa(c),  Whatmough,  🟨Watts,  Naylor,  Bayliss,  Lang,  Keane,  🟨McClean,  Wyke

SUBS - Jones (Gk),  Pearce,  Edwards,  Massey,  Jones,  Tilt,  Humphrys

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @2/1.
• Alex Woodyard to score at any time @8/1
• Penalty to be awarded and scored @7/2.
• Bookings over 45 points @11/5.

⚽Half Time Score - 0 - 0

First Half Comments;

Kick Off 3pm today at the Cherry Red Records, Plough Lane stadium, we will keep updated with events here. The Dons get us underway, looking to secure another important three points on the back of their away win against Lincoln. The visitors have a couple of efforts early on, should be an attacking game with their available options up front. Opening fifteen minutes and you have to say Wigan have had the best of it, but it's still goalless. The Dons come more into the game as the half progresses but despite both sides working hard there is little in terms of end product, feel like one goal might settle this. Two bookings for the visitors is about the only notable action before half time, Kelland Watts and James McClean go into the referees book for fouls.

⚽Full Time Score - 0 - 2    [Kalambayi og 50'  McClean 54']

Match Summary;
Didn't really make any impact on this and decisively beaten by a better side again. Could have been more but also sad to see Kalambayi go off after all our subs had been used, as we cannot accommodate injuries in our thin squad. Cambridge next weekend is a more realistic chance of points. 

My Man of the Match - James McClean (Wigan).

Attendance - 8,047
[Don't know why our attendances are not confirmed on the day itself].  

Today's Referee - Our match referee for this afternoon will be Mr Ollie Yates, from Staffordshire, has been on the list for last 5-6 years, though only seen a few times so far this season. Took two of our games last season a 2-2 draw against Northampton and a 0-0 against Ipswich, averages 3.5 bookings a game. Will have assistance on the touchlines from James Vallance and Paul Kelly while our fourth official on duty today will be Alan Young.

Next league one fixture;
  vs Cambridge United (Away)
  Saturday 30th October @3:00pm.

CHELTHENHAM NH RACING - THE SHOWCASE MEETING - SATURDAY 23rd OCTOBER

TWO DAY CHELTENHAM 'SHOWCASE' MEETING
SATURDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2021

Day Two of the opening season fixture at the home of NH racing, yes the wait is finally over as the days begin to get shorter and the crisp mornings return, so what will Saturday bring us with the many already looking ahead to March and the Festival itself, what clues will this weekend give us. Coverage will be on ITV during the afternoon including The Matchbook Betting Exchange Handicap Chase won last season by Frodon, jockey Bryony Frost and trainer Paul Nicholls. 

Gates Open - Approx. 12 noon

First Race - 1:45    Last Race - 5:15
Going - Good.

1:45 The Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle

2m 87y  [Class 3  16 runners]

A large field assembled for our opening handicap on Saturday where we find top weight Straw Fan Jack, a wide margin winner at Aintree but might find conceding weight all around here today a bit much off his current mark. Twice a winner on the flat Ingleby Hollow is one to consider at 12/1 having been runner up on last two hurdles attempts, appears to be affective on good or soft and shouldn't be far off here. Samba Dancer [Won @10/3] has started his campaign well, ex Irish runner, now with Fergal O'Brien and wins at Uttoxeter and Stratford shows his well being, slight rise in grade here but might not have stopped improving and 3lb claim is useful.

Result - (14) Samba Dancer @10/3 [Liam Harrison].

2:20 The 888 Sport Handicap Steeple Chase

3m 1f  [Class 2  14 runners]

Top weight and former Grand National favourite Cloth Cap reappears after his Aintree poor show. Would be a welcome boost for the yard as runs in the colours of the recently passed owner Trevor Hemmings. The horse has had a wind operation since his National disappointment, was improving all last term and no surprise to see him run well once again on seasonal debut, a likely front runner if allowed to bowl along again. Definite Plan [Won @9/2] can be found lower down the handicap and travels over from Ireland, a runner up on four of his last five runs, will need to improve his jumping a bit, something that should come with more experience but in good hands with his trainer looking to bounce back after his deserved ban last year.

Result - (11) Definite Plan @9/2 [J C Gainford].

2:55 The Masterson Holdings Hurdle Race

2m 87y  [Class 2  4 runners]

Small field of four here, probably the presence of Tritonic has caused that, Alan King's 4yo won two of his three runs at the beginning of this year and also kept ticking over on the flat without scoring. Given his display in the Adonis hurdle at Kempton the one to beat today and probably a banker for the day. The two that might give him most to think about are I Like To Move It [Won @10/3] (N Twiston-Davies) who had the benefit of a spin over hurdles at Worcester earlier this month, while Stepney Causeway (D Skelton) has been successful in his last four runs and moves up in grade now. The field is completed by Twoshotsoftequila who appears to outclassed but place money available just needs to get round.

Result - (2) I Like To Move It @10/3 [Sam Twiston-Davies].

3:30 The 888 Sport Handicap Steeple Chase

2m  [Class 2  9 runners]

There are a pair at the head of the betting market that warrant close inspection the first being Sky Pirate trained by Jonjo O'Neill twice a winner here including a festival victory (Grand Annual) in March. Yard have started the season well and should make a bold bid for another success. A winner on the flat back in February Before Midnight [Won @2/1f] has scored again and likely to be the main challenge today. Hopefully we have a full field to ensure three places, which might help Voix Du Reve who can make all and still have enough to secure a place bet victory today. 

Result - (5) Before Midnight @2/1f [Sam Twiston-Davies].

4:05  The Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle Race

2m 7f 208y  [Class 2  15 runners]

The Irish challenge could be led by recent Gowran Park winner Tullybeg that was three weeks ago so likely to have recovered from that 3m excursion, the yard is back to form after his enforced absence last season. The opposition is plentiful and we do have the 2019 winner Tobefair back in action. Is now 14lb lower than that success and has the benefit of a pipe opener for the season and this is likely to have been one of his early season targets too. At a large price and always giving his best work around here Kansas City Chief [Won @20/1] should be looked at in the place bet market (20/1) and would not be a surprise winner in an open event.

Result - (13) Kansas City Chief @20/1 [Victoria Malzard].

4:40  The Novices’ Steeple Chase

3m 80y  [Class 2  3 runners]

Another small field of five for the novice chase, likely front runner Roi De Dubai should stay fine, and if allowed an easy lead could be hard to peg back especially if his jumping is up to scratch. The likes of Oscar Elite should be open to improvement over the larger obstacles and ended last season with some good place efforts in Gr1 company.

Result - (1) Does He Know @4/5f [David Bass].

5:15 The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Standard Open NH Flat Race 

2m  [Class 2  16 runners]

We will conclude our two day meeting with a NH 'bumper' over two miles, plenty of runners, the one to keep an eye on to see if the market speaks well is the 4yo Swapped trained by Nicky Henderson. Also Top Dog who was runner up at Fairyhouse while trained in Ireland by Colm Murphy and is now in the hands of Emma Lavelle. It's an open contest so not a huge investment for me that pair should be to the fore.
Result - .

Results will be updated during Saturday afternoon and we will also have more from Cheltenham next month with their November meeting, as all roads lead to the 2022 Festival next March. Have a great weekend.

CHELTHENHAM NH RACING - THE SHOWCASE MEETING - FRIDAY 22nd OCTOBER

TWO DAY CHELTENHAM "SHOWCASE" MEETING
FRIDAY 22nd OCTOBER 2021

The wait is finally over as the days begin to get shorter and the crisp mornings return, it can only mean one thing – Cheltenham is back. The Showcase Friday marks the return of racing to Cheltenham on Friday 22 October 2021 with an exciting seven race card on offer.

In 2020, the two-mile feature race was won by the impressive Rouge Vif, and we also saw Galvin guided to victory before following up with Festival success in 2021.

Gates Open - Approx. 12 noon
First Race - 1:55    Last Race - 5:25

Going - Good.

1:55  The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle Race

2m 3f 200y  [Class 2  5 runners]

Small fields to being the afternoon with, just the five here, hard to split both Off Your Rocco [Non Runner] (G Elliott) and Camprond (P Hobbs) the latter won well at Chepstow in the Persian War hurdle earlier in the month and carries the famous colours of JP McManus, also has the highest rating on show of the five runners today, and with the non runner will be a very short price now. Off Your Rocco has taken well to hurdles winning four of his five starts so far including an opening bumper in Ireland, should be between these. Elliott also runs Mars Harper who is no back marker either, Davy Russell is in the saddle, and although needs a few pounds to trouble the front two in the betting this small field might play into his hands. The field is completed by Bannixtown Boy, and All Clenched Up [Non Runner] but they might have to find another smaller race than this.

Result - (1) Camprond @1/3f [Aidan Coleman].

2:30  The squareintheair.com Novices’ Chase

2m  [Class 2  5 runners]

Our first steeple chase now again just the five runner field though, Fidelio Vallis trained by Paul Nicholls has four victories from his last six runs, likely to make a game attempt again here in this field although has to concede 8lb to Third Time Lucki. Dan Skelton's runner is making his debut over the larger obstacles having performed well over hurdles, should have more to come over fences although the emphasis here will be on the jumping, might not be one to take too short a price about here. Sir Tivo was successful in lower grade competitions during the summer, will be fit and ready but looks set for place prize money, while Any News has run here last year, placed in hurdle races and together with Buddy Rich might need one of the front two to falter if they are to score today.

Result - (5) Third Time Lucki @11/8f. [Harry Skelton]

3:05  888sport What's Your Thinking Novices' Hurdle

2m 7f 208y  [Class 2  8 runners]

Bardenstown Lad won a couple of small hurdle races and should find this a lot warmer today, while Drumlee Water is another stepping up and while not without merit this is much more difficult than what they have achieved so far. Elsewhere we consider Onagatheringstorm who was an 11l winner at Aintree sent off a short price favourite that day. A second look at Grace A Vous Enki having joined Paul Nicholls since a productive campaign in France and could have plenty of improvement now in the hands of the champion NH trainer.  While trainer David Pipe sends Siruh Du Lac back over hurdles today, last five runs have all been here albeit over fences, while winning the first pair of those then managed a sequence of pulled up, fell, unseated and has been off the racecourse since, looks to be on a recovery mission but is not without a chance.

Result - (1) Bardenstown Lad @85/40f [S Bowen].

3:40  The 888 Sport Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase

2m 3f 166y  [Class 3  5 runners]

Back to the fences, and another small field of five again here. Headed up by Faivoir a multiple winner for Dan Skelton including his first chase at Uttoxeter earlier this month, seemed to jump well and ought to improve for that experience, looks the one to beat. Similarly another Uttoxeter winner Back On The Lash has a bit more mileage over fences, has won over further and a possible front runner in the field. Annual Invictus was runner up to Faivoir last time, staying on up the run in to get the place. Danny Kirwan represents Paul Nicholls yard and should be ready to go again, while Torn and Frayed needs to improve but even so is not entirely out of things in this small field.

Result - (3) Annual Invictus @11/4 [Tom Cannon].

4:15  Abu Dhabi Digital Exchange Handicap Hurdle

2m 3f 200y  [Class 3  12 runners]

Coole Cody has been a standing dish around this track winning at the November meeting here last term, should run their usual consistent race and in an open handicap no surprise to see them towards the front of the market again.  Alan King's 5yo Dal Horrisgle represents an inform yard (24% strike rate in past 14 days) will need to jump better than last time out when a distant 4th at Uttoxeter, that race was his handicap debut after a couple of novice wins, can be given another chance here at 12/1 a win/place option.

Result - (1) Guard Your Dreams @16/5f [Sam Twiston-Davies].

4:50  Andy Stewart Memorial Amateur Jockeys' Handicap Chase

3m 1f  [Class 3  17 runners]

A field of 18, including last year's winner Bermeo, who has had place form here since that win which would make him of interest once more and available at 20/1 one for the place markets perhaps. He is one of four runner for trainer Tim Vaughan today, includes Jean Genie another that seems to run consistently for the place option. Debden Bank could be one to watch, has been taking a rise in the weights with wins at Southwell and Worcester this is a different level, an open contest could still be a horse that's improving.

Result - (16) Stricklyadancer @7/1 [Mr P A KIng].

5:25  The Foundation Developments Maiden Hurdle

2m 87y  [Class 3  14 runners]

We end with a maiden hurdle, plenty of runners, some NH debutants and many with experience of NH Flat races. Cardano does have a lot of flat form under rules, runner up in his last two starts for trainer Ian Williams if he's ready to take to hurdles should be one to keep a close eye on in the betting. Irish trainer Gordon Elliott sends over his Downpatrick bumper winner Top Bandit and will prefer this easier ground than the soft he faced on latest start although he still finished a reasonably close third that day.

Result - (12) Top Bandit @15/8f [Davy Russell].

All results will be updated during Friday afternoon and we will also have the Saturday meeting ready to go for tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #27 WEDNESDAY 20th OCTOBER

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 push on through the autumn still in profit and now less than three months of the season left to go. The second of the NFL games took place in London last Sunday when Miami Dolphins took on Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tottenham Stadium, a rare win for the Jaguars in the final second of the game. Cheltenham NH meetings are coming up this week too as the jumps season begins in earnest, AFC Wimbledon hosted a game against Sheffield Wednesday coming back from two down to secure a two all draw we then travelled to Lincoln City on Tuesday night and won 1-0 with an early Aaron Pressley penalty enough for the three points.

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 went a little behind in July but now we are back in front during September and looking okay through into October we've seen the profit for the season rise to +37.305 points with a small success coming at the last meeting and 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 29/39 (74.35%) after another success at the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress during the year ahead. 

This week will be our 27th Wednesday evening meeting of the year. Tonight's meeting we shall be expecting an eight race card with the division of the 7f fillies novice event, we will have four handicaps including a 2yo nursery contest. Therefore our action will now commence at 16:55 with the opening auction stakes over just under mile and half, then we should end the card around about 20:30 with the final handicap event over six tonight.

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 cloudy afternoon and early evening with a fair chance of showers in the forecast and a highest expected temperature of around 17C tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

17:30  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Nursery Handicap (2yo)

6f  [Class 6  12 runners]

Our opening handicap is a 2yo nursery contest where the well bred filly Vintage Fashion [8th @22/1] represents the Mark Johnston yard, seems to have slowly improved with each of her three runs to date and doesn't seem to have an overly harsh opening handicap mark for this. Would also have an interest in Psychic Change [12th @33/1] ran midfield here in a novice stakes over the trip, still could be in the mix for trainer David Menuisier.
Winner - (9) Edge Nibras @5/1 [Ray Dawson].

19:30  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Handicap
7f  [Class 4  13 runners]

Rogue Force [9th @25/1] won his maiden here and has found his opening handicap mark a struggle at times, though the addition of Neil Callan might help bring about some improvement and back to this course and surface could oblige at attractive odds. At the bottom of the handicap tonight is May Night [WON @10/1], and Andrew Balding's 3yo ought to prefer this surface to the heavy going encountered last time. Won here back in March, and placed since off this mark so still in with a chance with champion jockey Oisin Murphy the man in the saddle.
Winner - (14) May Night @10/1 [Oisin Murphy].

20:00  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Handicap

6f  [Class 4  11 runners]

Robert Cowell sends Temple Bruer [9th @33/1] here on the same mark as his runner up effort last time at Wolves, was staying on at the finish then although the winner was well away, has run well at Ffos Las before then, shouldn't be far off. Touchwood [WON @11/1] another consistent 3yo running well this season and still on a workable handicap mark with Hollie Doyle a positive booking for tonight.
Winner - (8) Touchwood @11/1 [Hollie Doyle].

20:30  Unibet Casino Deposit 10 Get 40 Bonus Handicap
6f  [Class 6  9 runners]

With Bama Lama now a non runner Iesha [2nd @7/1] is the pick now for our finale, back at this track where she scored at 80/1 and has generally ran well thereafter, never that far off the pace will see if the return to this course sparks another revival while will also have an interest with Mellencamp [3rd @14/1] too, low starting point for handicaps and Oisin Murphy an interesting booking for this one, not a deep race and should go well at a nice price, hopefully Oisin can get a good tune out of him.

Winner - (7) Bomb Squad @15/2 [Sophie Jones].

Staked - 8 points.       Returns - 23 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 returned and we are now back in the black to the tune of +37.805 points to a level stake at SP coming into this week's 27th meeting. A nice 10/1 winner ensures a profit tonight, then Hollie wins at 11/1 and we've the final race still to enjoy. Got the 2 places in the finale but a +15 point profit tonight so we have a healthy +52.805 points going forward.

Lays -- 29/39 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 into the final few months of the year, and they are generally very short prices, including another successful fav beaten during the last few meetings. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. Fav beaten tonight so that's us on 30/40 now

Tonight's Lays;

18:00 - Lady Xenia  [7f 2yo Fillies Novice]  Lost 6th @5/2f

We will have another midweek floodlit meeting here on Wednesday 27th October so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.

🏇 PONTEFRACT HORSE RACING SYSTEM - 2021 SEASON FINALE - MEETING #16 18th OCTOBER

PONTEFRACT SEASON 2021.

Welcome to this our final meeting of the 2021 season taking place on Monday 18th October. 

1st race 1.15pm.
Going: Soft, Good to soft in places.

This will be our FINAL meeting of the year as the turf flat season begins to draw to a close. The last day of the 2021 season sees our final Listed Race where the 2yos take to the stage in the EBF Silver Tankard Stakes – Pythagoras won the 2020 renewal ‘behind closed doors’ for Richard Fahey and Paul Hanagan. There is also another stayers contest 'The Phil Bull Trophy' over 2m 2f and due off around 2:55pm, It’s always a popular and well attended race meeting also a chance to do some very early Christmas shopping when the Injured Jockeys Fund brings their stall.

ALL results for these fixtures are recorded to a level stake at Starting Price (SP), and will also show any forecast results too in the daily results but these do not count for the profit / loss figures.

After a good opening we have seen a few winners and at least secured a small profit on the last two meetings up till last week, sadly that was a complete blow out with loads of runners up and no wins. So sadly we saw our deficit climb again to -49.027 points onto this final meeting this afternoon.

Going / Weather: 
The forecast going is now currently reported as 'Soft, Good to soft in places' while the weather for Monday afternoon is for a generally cloudy day with some showers expected and a breeze the maximum temperature around the 16C mark.

Here are our selections for the eight races taking place on Monday afternoon, remember it's a very simple selection process using stalls one and two in every race;

13:15  Northern Commercials Iveco And Fiat Restricted Novice Stakes (2yo)
6f  [Class 5  12 runners]
(1) - Finbar's Lad.  [11th @16/1]
(2) - Fantasy Navigator.  [6th @150/1]

13:45  Harriet Bethell's IJF Pontefract Course Walk Nursery (2yo)
1m 6y  [Class 6  16 runners]
(1) - Greatness Awaits.  [2nd @5/1]
(2) - Grifter.  [9th @4/1]

14:20  British Stallion Studs EBF Silver Tankard Stakes (Listed) (2yo)
1m 6y  [Class 1  12 runners]
(1) - Mahagoni.  [4th @12/1]
(2) - Mr Professor.  [WON @16/1]

14:55  Phil Bull Trophy Conditions Stakes
2m 2f 2y  [Class 2  5 runners]
(1) - Stag Horn.  [WON @4/7f]
(2) - Warranty.  [3rd @50/1]

15:30  Allen Hinchcliffe Memorial Handicap
1m 2f 5y  [Class 4  11 runners]
(1) - Kayfast Warrior.  [4th @9/1]
(2) - Thunderclap.  [WON @11/4]

16:05  Steve Lumb Quest For The Cheapest Pint Handicap (Div One)
6f  [Class 5  12 runners]
(1) - Patsy Fagan.  [WON @12/1]
(2) - Stallone.  [2nd @2/1f]

16:40  Steve Lumb Quest For The Cheapest Pint Handicap (Div Two)
6f  [Class 5  11 runners]
(1) - Mashaan.  [8th @14/1]
(2) - Impeller.  [7th @8/1]

17:15  Racing TV Club Day Handicap
5f 3y  [Class 4  14 runners]
(1) - Black Friday.  [WON @11/2]
(2) - Ehrmann.  [11th @5/1]

Staked - 16 points.
Returns - 41.82 points.

This has been a frustrating 2021 season here, we had a nice start early on but sadly begun to fall behind and not recovered enough. After the opening fifteen meetings we are sadly still -49.027 points behind coming into this final fixture, the results for today will be updated during Monday afternoon as we try to claw back a little more again in the season finale. Nice winner in the third race, then followed up with a few more winners this afternoon. Meant we will at least end the season on a winning meeting, small victories and all that, looks likely we will still be down for the year, but after sixteen meetings it's looking a lot better than it was.
Profit on the day of +25.82 points.
Therefore we ended the season down, but not disheartened, overall loss was reduced to -23.207 points to a level point stake at SP. 

That is all for this season here I hope you have been well through 2021 and we'll return in April for the start of the 2022 season.