KEMPTON PARK RACING 2020 MEETING #26 WEDNESDAY 9th DECEMBER

Welcome to Kempton Park racecourse here for another evening meeting as we return to regular action on the all weather flat track under the lights. We will keep blogging throughout 2020 till the end of the year. British horse racing having safely returned behind closed doors as part of a phased return for the sport. Now that the latest lockdown will have ended today the Government will be allowing a small amount of attendance at these events, Kempton Park is currently in Tier 2 so expecting a small number, who will need to go through a number of Covid checks before entry. Please check the guidelines published by the Jockey Club here LINK. We will have to see how this progresses during the rest of the year. 

Back to the horse racing all results here are reported to 1pt at Starting Prices (SP) our last meeting here a week ago, where we managed a few wins, after meeting #25 we found ourselves in a loss for the year to a figure of -60.765 points, results are always recorded to SP we will aim to get us back into the winners enclosure again soon and see further improvement in the results.

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 40/54 (74%). We reset the counters for 2020 and will be continuing this throughout the year again. Currently a decent start with plenty of short priced favourites getting beat, so we now have stats of 30/46 (65.21%) after the latest meeting.

This week we look forward to another Wednesday evening meeting during this interrupted period, this will be meeting #26 for the 2020 midweek season. Tonight we shall be expecting an eight race card with four handicaps to enjoy. The action will now commence at 15:50 with a six furlong novice stakes and we should end the card around about 19:25 with the stayers contest over just under two miles.

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 lot of chilly weather but mostly a clear day expected the temperature to reach around 8C by the time the meeting gets underway as Christmas rapidly approaches.
Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

17:25  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Nursery (2yo)

7f  [Class 5  11 runners]

DASHING DICK [2nd 10/3] only lost out by a short head last time and a neck the one before at Chelmsford and surely capable of winning a race of this nature. While DEPUTY [6th 8/1] failed to see out the mile last time but was chasing the winner over this distance and as that was only his second race and should be suited to a return to this trip and track tonight.

18:25  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Fillies' Handicap

1m  [Class 4  6 runners]

Richard Fahey's 4yo filly TORNADO QUEEN [2nd 10/3] ran with credit when third at Wolves last time, has won twice earlier in the summer and looks a player again tonight in a small field. While ROMAN SPINNER [6th 11/1] is about 5lb lower than when winning here at this time last year, back amongst her own gender she can put her considerable experience to good effect.

18:55  Try Our New Price Boosts At Unibet Handicap

1m 2f 219y  [Class 4  9 runners]

Previously with Richard Hannon, FLY FALCON [WON 7/2] is a 3yo with three previous runs, and can win again with the step up in trip looking to be in his favour. GABRIAL THE ONE [7th 12/1] is another for Dr Marwan Koukash and runs with credit regularly around Chester so it's interesting that he comes to the all weather again where has was a winner off a higher mark and his turn might be close once more.

19:25  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap

1m 7f 218y  [Class 3  7 runners]

IMPERIUM [WON EVENS] has won two from three runs this year and that included a staying event here last month and clearly remains in good form so no surprise if he can repeat that again tonight.  Another good stayer is DANCE TO PARIS [2nd 9/1] who is consistent, and gets plenty of weight here tonight so jockey Jim Crowley should have him well placed to strike.

Staked -- 8 points.       Returns -- 6.5 points.
Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. This season we started afresh and will try hard to stop going well behind but all results are accurate and recorded to SP returns to a 1pt win stake only and updated each meeting. A disappointing 2020 so far now sees us behind after meeting #25 to the tune of -60.765 overall and we need some more winners to see this reduced further with only a few more meetings to go this year. Despite two winners we still drop another -1.5 points tonight. Means we are -62.265 overall.

Lays -- 30/46. We had a good season last year 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. A superb night for the lays tonight, all three favourites were beaten, including two odds on shots. 33/49 now. 

Tonight's Lays;

15:50 - Caribbean Sunset [6f 2yo Novice Stakes].  LOST 4th 10/11F.

16:20 - Maraakiz [7f 2yo Novice Stakes].  LOST 9th 5/4F

16:55 - Highland Avenue [7f 2yo Novice Stakes].  LOST 2nd 1/4F

Our next evening meeting here will be next week Wednesday 16th December hope you can join us again soon but most importantly remain safe and well.

AFC WIMBLEDON v BRISTOL ROVERS -- 20/21 LEAGUE ONE - PLOUGH LANE 5th DECEMBER 2020

Saturday 5th December 2020 3:00pm
AFC Wimbledon will 'host' their latest home game back in Wimbledon against Bristol Rovers at the New Plough Lane Stadium. This time hopefully with the presence of a crowd, albeit a small one under the current Tier 2 Covid system in place. I won't be attending myself at the moment but it's good that we can start having a bit of an atmosphere again. Sadly we've been recovering from a Covid 19 outbreak in the squad, then losing league games and being dumped out of the FA Cup by Crawley. A good 2-1 win on Tuesday against Peterborough has put us back on track in the league and now it's time to continue those winning ways.

Onto the game itself on Saturday in League One and lets have a look at our opponents today, Bristol Rovers are managed by the former Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale and currently sitting in 21st place in the league on 13 points, they come to us on the back of a 0-2 home defeat against Gillingham on Tuesday night. The Dons put their FA Cup disappointment behind them with a 2-1 win that evening too which means we are in 11th place in League One on 20 points the form does point to another Dons win, lets hope so. While some sides have seen a return for a limited number of supporters in attendance it would appear that this is some months off for Dons fans. Hope to see the front pair of Ryan Longman and Joe Pigott continue up front, they came good the other night creating chances, better than the long aimless hoofs up field we started seeing with just a sole front man. Could still do with someone big to attack corners which appears to be a weak spot once again.

Most Recent League Games
AFC Wimbledon 2 - 1 Peterborough United

Bristol Rovers 0 - 2 Gillingham

Head to Head
We've been playing against Bristol Rovers every season since returning to the League in 2011, our first game was a 2-3 home defeat to them and the record is generally not a great one, having only won four games, losing nine and drawing the other three. You have to factor in that games played in Bristol are usually in pouring rain and terrible winds it did take us six seasons to win at their place and about time they got a decent stadium too. 

Starting XI's [Confirmed]

BRISTOL ROVERS

Win Odds  - 9/4 [William Hill]
Jaakkola (Gk),  Kilgour,  Ehmer (c),  Baldwin,  Leahy,  Grant,  Westbrooke,  Upson,  Oztumer,  ⚽⚽Hanlan,  ⚽⚽Nicholson

SUBS - van Stappershoef (Gk),  Hargreaves,  Hare,  Harries,  Walker,  Barrett,  Koiki

AFC WIMBLEDON 

Win Odds - 5/4 [William Hill]

Trueman (Gk),  🟨Nightingale (c),  ⚽Heneghan,  Csoka,  Alexander,  Woodyard,  Hartigan,  Rudoni,  🟨Guinness-Walker,  Longman,  ⚽Pigott

SUBS - Tzanev (Gk), Thomas,  McLoughlin,  Palmer,  Chislett,  Reilly,  Seddon

Selected Bets On This Match;

• Over 1.5 goals in 1st half @9/4 YES !!
• Joe Pigott to score first @9/2  YES !!
• AFC Wimbledon to win 1st half @2/1.

⚽Half Time Score - 2 - 3

[Pigott 5' pen, Heneghan 30']    [Nicholson 14', Hanlan 25' 45']

First Half Comments;
Wimbledon kick us off here at plough lane against Bristol Rovers and the action is swift as the Dons win a penalty in the 4th minute, which is superbly despatched by Joe Pigott for an early lead. A good start after a busy twelve days and lets try to step it up a bit now, Will Nightingale picks up a booking early on too and then the equaliser came before the quarter hour mark for Rovers via Sam Nicholson. Typically the Dons struggle against the sides beneath us and it's therefore no surprise to me that Rovers take the lead on 25 mins via a Brandon Hanlan header the Dons defence appear to be sleeping. Lets hope for a stronger performance now, the goals keep coming though and Ben Heneghan our latest defensive signing scores another goal for the Dons, a header from a free kick maybe he can develop into our set piece threat, we need one but it's 2-2 and it's only thirty mins gone. One more goal before half time, the visitors retake the lead again with Hanlan's second goal and overall are having the best of the possession, more attempts and corners, things need to improve in the second half for the Dons.

⚽Full Time Score - 2 - 4    [Nicholson 64']

Match Summary;
.

My Man of the Match - TBA.

Attendance - None for now, maybe soon.

Today's Referee - Today's match referee will be Benjamin Speedie from Merseyside, a young referee who was taking charge of National League games last season and now promoted to League One / Two games not surprisingly therefore this is his first game officiating us. Will have assistance from Stephen Finch and Anthony Da Costa on the touchlines and our fourth official is Craig Hicks.

Dons next league match:
Saturday 12th December 2020 vs Charlton Athletic (Away)
League One Kick off 3:00pm

KEMPTON PARK RACING 2020 MEETING #25 WEDNESDAY 2nd DECEMBER

Welcome to Kempton Park racecourse here for another evening meeting as we return to regular action on the all weather flat track under the lights. We will keep blogging throughout 2020 till the end of the year. British horse racing having safely returned behind closed doors as part of a phased return for the sport. Now that the latest lockdown will have ended today the Government will be allowing a small amount of attendance at these events, Kempton Park is currently in Tier 2 so expecting a small number, who will need to go through a number of Covid checks before entry. Please check the guidelines published by the Jockey Club here LINK. We will have to see how this progresses during the rest of the year. 

Back to the horse racing all results here are reported to 1pt at Starting Prices (SP) our last meeting here a week ago, where sadly we dropped a few more points, we are now into another lockdown during November and after meeting #24 another loss sadly with some unfortunate near misses we found ourselves in a loss for the year to a figure of -72.64 points, results are always recorded to SP we will aim to get us back into the winners enclosure again soon and see further improvement in the results.

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 40/54 (74%). We reset the counters for 2020 and will be continuing this throughout the year again. Currently a decent start with plenty of short priced favourites getting beat, more short priced favs beat so we now have stats of 28/44 (63.63%) after the latest meeting.

This week we look forward to another Wednesday evening meeting during this interrupted period, this will be meeting #25 for the 2020 midweek season. Tonight we shall be expecting an eight race card with six handicaps to enjoy and also the listed Wild Flower Stakes [18:30]. The action will now commence at 17:00 with a six furlong novice stakes for fillies and we should end the card around about 20:30 with the second division of our final handicap contest over a mile trip.

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 lot of chilly weather but mostly a clear day expected the temperature to reach around 8C by the time the meeting gets underway a sure sign that Winter is with us now.
Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

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

6f  [Class 4  7 runners]

Our opening event tonight features ENDURING [Non Runner] who has won on his last two attempts here, either side of that was racing in much stronger company and a return to this course could well see another strong run. SHANGHAI ROCK [4th 7/1] is given a chance on the all weather back down in trip having failed to shine over 7f at Newcastle, Richard Hannon's runner was previously a winner at Windsor. 

18:00  Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Handicap

6f  [Class 2  9 runners]

Although a little higher in the weights now AMARILLO STAR [5th 11/2] has at least won here this time of year and gone on to run consistently when runner up twice in the new year. Still young enough to improve and kept to this trip for now, at 12/1 expected to go well. Last time out Newcastle winner BRIAN THE SNAIL [WON 14/1] isn't a slowcoach and although outclassed in the Ayr Silver Cup prior to that win could go well again now that the penny has dropped again this is his first visit to Kempton.

18:30  Unibet Wild Flower Stakes (Listed)

1m 3f 219y  [Class 1  9 runners]

Our non handicap event on tonight's card is the Wild Flower Listed event over just under mile and half, we select RED VERDON [4th 25/1] trained by Ed Dunlop having won a listed event at Doncaster as well as a Group 2 in France should be right there in this grade and big player with Ryan Moore booked. JOHNNY DRAMA [WON 15/8] is a recent winner of a couple of course handicaps and then moved into conditions events might have only been a small field last time but did the job well and could still have more to offer.

19:00  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap

1m 3f 219y [Class 5  14 runners]

ESTRELA STAR [9th 14/1] steps back in trip having appeared to fail to see out the near two mile off higher marks, hopefully this shorter trip can help at a track he's won at previously, jockey Tom Marquand a strong booking. PRINCESS BRIDE [5th 13/2] is a Godolphin filly who is lightly raced and stepping up in trip, hopefully that will see her being closer today and worth a go at the price for her connections.

19:30  Unibet Casino Deposit 10 Get 40 Bonus Handicap

1m  [Class 4  11 runners]

A standing dish on the all weather these days FAMILY FORTUNES [3rd 10/1] has had plenty of runs here and Lingfield but last win came back in February last year, am giving him another chance off a reducing handicap mark and has only raced a few times this season. MR TYRRELL [5th 7/1] also a 6yo was placed recently at Lingfield and another who might be able to take advantage of a reducing handicap mark.

20:00  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (Div One)

1m  [Class 6  11 runners]

The first of two divisions for our finale mile handicap where NEVER SAID NOTHING [Non Runner] carries top weight but has been consistent off this sort of mark and has a recent win at Bath, while also interested in COMEONFEELTHEFORCE [6th 16/1] not just because we lost Darth Vader last weekend (David Prowse RIP) but also has tumbled down the weights and this doesn't look that strong a race so I think now might be the time.

20:30  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (Div Two)

1m  [Class 6  10 runners]

The second division ends our first December meeting CALIN'S LAD [WON 5/1] has raced here once before and won on that occasion off this mark so will be looking for a repeat of that success. While MRS BENSON [4th 9/2] has done the majority of her running on the all weather tracks and won here earlier only 2lb higher and should be thereabouts again.

Staked -- 14 points.       Returns -- 25.875 points.
Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. This season we started afresh and will try hard to stop going well behind but all results are accurate and recorded to SP returns to a 1pt win stake only and updated each meeting. A disappointing 2020 so far now sees us behind after meeting #24 to the tune of -72.64 overall and we need some more winners to see this reduced soon. A profit guaranteed tonight with three winners on the night, up +11.875 which at least brings the overall deficit down to -60.765 and the lays were successful too so night work tonight.

Lays -- 28/44. We had a good season last year 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. Both favs beaten tonight, great, moves us to 30/46.

Tonight's Lays;

17:00 - Eastern Delight [6f 2yo Novice Stakes]. LOST 4th 4/6F

18:30 - Sinjaari [Wild Flower Listed Stakes]. LOST 2nd 6/4F

Our next evening meeting here will be next week Wednesday 9th December hope you can join us again soon but most importantly remain safe and well.