KEMPTON PARK RACES 2019 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #19 21st August

Continuing with the next instalment of what I hope will prove to be a more productive second half to the year throughout 2019.

Mid August now and not sure where summer has run off too. A Bank Holiday looms next weekend but before then we have plenty of racing to follow and although the new football season is also underway we have one eye on the cricket too as the Ashes is in full swing, The second test match ended in a Draw so it's still 1-0 to the Aussies. We will still look to have a bit of fun here at Kempton. The Football League One season has failed to spark for my side AFC Wimbledon who drew 1-1 last weekend against Accrington Stanley and are playing Ipswich Town on Tuesday as I publish this the result is unknown but we do need to find a win soon.

Finally had a winning evening at the last meeting here and will continue to focus on the all weather horse racing now while the lights still shine brightly here at Kempton Park throughout this year. We are hopeful of better season than we experienced last year but it's just some fun and excitement to mix up the week we have found it hard and are more than a little behind to SP though it's something I will keep persevering with through to the end of the year. 

Let us continue with this our nineteenth Wednesday night of 2019, and will continue to focus on the handicap contests for each Wednesday evening meeting though we will also occasionally include a feature listed or conditions event too if there is one available. Keeping records of our endeavours to a 1 point level stake at SP, naturally we will personally be looking to get better odds than this but for the purpose of these results here we simply record SP returns only. Following our last meeting the deficit is currently on -40.855 points to SP returns overall. We continue to battle hard to reduce this and thankfully there is still plenty of time to get this back on track. 

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 have been fairly successful with our selections so far and last time got another favourite selection beaten which means we are now 20/28 we will continue with this through 2019.

This Wednesday will be meeting number nineteen for the 2019 AW season and we are expecting a seven race card tonight we have five handicaps to review which should keep us plenty busy enough. The action which will now commence at 17:45 with a seven furlong Novice Stakes and the card ends around about 20:45 with our final handicap contest also 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 for a lot of cloudy weather and a top temperature around 23C by the time the meeting gets underway.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

18:45 -- 7f Fillies Handicap (3yo).

Our opening handicap of the night has a small field of six, headed by TURN N TWIRL [WON 5/1] trained by Simon Crisford, a winner on the AW on debut at Lingfield and although lightly raced might be a bit too high in the handicap based on that run. Anything is possible in a small field though, but we prefer ANGEL MEAD [6th 16/1] here who ran well enough in defeat to a very short priced favourite at Salisbury last time out to suggest that a win in this sort of company could be on the cards along with the more experienced SHORTER SKIRT [5th 10/1] who has had more racing and wins/places on the all weather earlier in her career should see this filly in amongst them too.

19:15 -- 1m Handicap.

Decent field with a dozen declared for this mile event, for which we select PESTO [2nd 16/1] and ALFURAT RIVER [10th 2/1f] against the field. Pesto has two wins from his six starts to date at Leicester and Sandown over 7f, and this looks like a drop in class from the two defeats at Sandown and Ascot last time although might still have a little to prove at the mile but worth another go. Alfurat River has won at Redcar having been runner up here and the Godolphin yard would expect this son of Dubawi to be capable of a mile too.

19:45 -- 1m 7f 218y Handicap.

Another small field for the stayers event with only five being declared and could be a shoe in for the Sir Mark Prescott trained DISTANT CHIMES who looks like he'll be odds on for this in an attempt to run up a four timer. It's hard to pick the biggest danger in such a small field but maybe HIGHLAND SKY can make the most of Hollie Doyle in the saddle and run the jolly close but with a small field and odds on fav here there's no bet in this handicap tonight.

20:15 -- 1m 3f 219y Handicap (3yo).

Just the five here too, unusual for this midweek meeting as we usually have decent sized fields, looks a good chance for John Gosden to have a winner with TRAVEL ON [4th 6/1] here, the small field might be against the likely favourite Zuba so will also select DEAL A DOLLAR [WON 7/2] from Sir Michael Stoute in what could be a tactical affair.

20:45 -- 7f Handicap.

Nine in the finale, headed by EPIC ADVENTURE who has form in France and has to shoulder 10st here so opposed until reassessed even though could be interesting for Gerald Mosse and is one I might add to my "to follow" listing for the future. Tonight though we will look in the direction of COVERHAM who is a multiple course and distance winner but 3-4lb above that mark and could place but for the win purpose we will continue to look at the field. 

LADY OF ARUN [2nd 7/2] is another course and distance winner back to her correct mark so has a good chance if breaking well from the gates, while at a larger price is KAMIKAZE LORD [4th 8/1] a 3yo who easily won as a 2yo here and was rated a lot higher so assuming ability is retained might surprise around 16/1.

Staked -- 8 points.

Returns -- 4.5 points.

Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. We are currently on a deficit of -40.855 points to SP returns for the season, five months of the season to go though. Nice winner last week and hopefully we can see that form again. Just the one winner tonight sadly and a small loss for the night of -3.5 points, means we creep up again to -44.355 overall.

LAYS -- 20/28. Another successful short price lay bet last time around and will see if we can find one or two short priced selections and will post here if we have any for tonight. One short price winner and another fav lost means we are 21/30

Tonight's Lays;

18:15 -- INCLYNE [1m 3f+ Maiden]  WON 4/7F.

20:15 -- ZUBA [1m 3f+ Handicap]  LOST 5th 7/4F.

If there's more than these two we will update here on Wednesday.

Our twentieth meeting for this year will be held next week on Wednesday 28th August so hope to see you then and throughout the rest of 2019 too.

PONTEFRACT HORSE RACING SYSTEM -- 2019 SEASON -- MEETING #12

PONTEFRACT SEASON 2019.

Welcome to our twelfth meeting of the season on Sunday 18th August. 

1st race 2.00pm, gates open from around midday.

The 2019 season continues with our final Family Fun Day on Sunday 18th August. These Sunday fixtures not only feature the best racing of the year at Pontefract with over £100,000 worth of Prize Money available at each meeting, but they are also the 3 fixtures each season dedicated to families. As well as special events on each Sunday raceday, there will also be a funfair, face painting, circus, free sweets, activity packs and racecards for kids, pony rides, trips to the starts of races and a ‘Hunt The Golden Horseshoe’ competition on every Family Day. The meeting will begin at 2pm with the "Trevor Woods Memorial British EBF Novice Stakes" an event for 2yo's over five furlongs. 

The "EBF Stallions Highfield Farm Flying Fillies' Stakes" is the feature race at 3.30pm with over £33k up for grabs to the winner of this 6f contest. A race won last year by CASTLE HILL CASSIE (left) we will look forward to the declarations for this event. 
ALL of our 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. We arrive here on the back of a small loss last time which does mean we are still trailing on -46.525 points to SP as we come into the twelfth meeting and are now heading towards to final few 'furlongs' of the season. The forecast going is now currently reported as 'Good, Good to Soft in places' and our weather for Sunday afternoon is for a generally warm day with plenty of humidity and a good chance of some light rain showers and we've a forecast maximum temperature around the 19C mark.

A link to this afternoon's race card can be found here

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

14.00 5f 3y Novice Stakes (2yo).
(1) -- VENTURA LIGHTNING  [Non Runner].
(2) -- LADY NECTAR  [3rd 33/1].

14:30 1m 4f 5y Handicap.
(1) -- HEREBY  [WON Evens].
(2) -- DOCTOR CROSS  [2nd 10/1].

15:00 2m 1f 27y Handicap.
(1) -- ST ANDREWS  [4th 8/1].
(2) -- FOREWARNING  [WON 11/2].

15:30 6f Highland Farm Flying Fillies Stakes (Listed).
(1) -- STAGE PLAY  [10th 33/1].
(2) -- LAST EMPIRE  [Non Runner].

16:00 1m 6y Handicap (3yo).
(1) -- SMILE A MILE  [WON 9/1].
(2) -- GLOBAL GIFT  [3rd 6/1].

16:30 1m 6y Novice Stakes.
(1) -- SORBONNE  [7th 16/1].
(2) -- GAZTON  [6th 25/1].

17:00 6f Handicap (Div One).
(1) -- ALMURR  [7th 14/1].
(2) -- MAGICAL EFFECT  [3rd 13/8f].

17:30 6f Handicap (Div Two).(1) -- SALUTI [2nd 7/1].
(2) -- SPRINGWOOD DRIVE [WON 9/4f].

Staked -- 16 points.
Returns -- 23.75 points. [4 Winners, 2 n/r]

Having started the 2019 season afresh, we fell behind early on and have been trying to catch up since. Currently showing a deficit of -46.525 coming into our twelfth meeting today. Made a profit today with the four winners +7.75. That helps to reduce our season losses down to -38.775. There are still four more meetings to follow after this one. 

Our next meeting here will be held on Thursday 19th September so we really hope you will stick with us till the end of the season.

AFC WIMBLEDON v ACCRINGTON STANLEY LEAGUE ONE SATURDAY 17th AUGUST 2019

Our second home game of the season and sadly we still looking for our first points of the season, hopefully they can come when we play the mighty Accrington Stanley this weekend. Having lost our first two league games 2-1 each time it's still small margins and with a lot of new young players to blend in at least we not getting thumped yet. Could do with some experience and miss a true leader, also having to rely on a youngster in goal without any league experience this could be a long season for us. Our opponents Accrington Stanley have only had the one league game so far losing 2-0 to promoted Lincoln City, their game last week would have been against Bury but we know about their problems and by the time this match begins we might know their fate for the season (they still fighting but still not played a game in league or league cup). We failed in the opening round of the League Cup ourselves and the least said about that the better so let's focus on the league now please and our cup runs are reserved for the FA Cup.

FORM GUIDE 
(Last 6 matches from last season in their respective leagues, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon -- LLDWDD
Accrington Stanley -- LDWWLW

LAST TIME OUT
Fleetwood Town 2 -- 1 AFC Wimbledon
Lincoln City 2 -- 0 Accrington Stanley

Updates will be published with team news and more as and when it comes through. Not sure if Will Nightingale will be fit for this so it's likely that the captain's armband will be picked up by Joe Pigott which hopefully will not stop him from scoring the goals, though plenty required from elsewhere so will see if any of the new youngsters such as Nesta Guinness-Walker can shine. With our "new" goalkeeper Nathan Trott also on the injured list before being able to shine for the Dons we will be relying on Nik Tzanev between the sticks for the time being. A relatively young side, could do with some experience but will trust in the management team that saved us last term. If there are further news nearer kick off we will update here. Early odds show Wimbledon as short as 5/4 which I find odd, so suggest you take the 2/1 about the opposition today.

Last year we had to shift our shirt sponsorship to the Assistant manager Glyn Hodges but this year we have a player to follow and are sponsoring the home shirt of defender Terell Thomas (pictured left). Good luck Terell and hopefully we'll see you pop up for a vital goal or two this season. 

And PLEASE can we give someone else the Penalty duties for the season, sorry Joe but we cannot keep going on missing these opportunities and I would rather see a defender belt one like Stuart Pearce used too than see a player walk up, stop, do a jig and then miss it ! 

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 5/4 (William Hill) 

Trott (GK),  Thomas,  Kalambayi,  McDonald,  ⚽ O'Neill,   Wagstaff,  Hartigan,  Reilly,  Guinness-Walker,  Folivi,  Pigott (c)

Subs – Tzanev (GK),  Appiah,  Roscrow,  Pinnock,  Connolly,  McLoughlin,  Osew

ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Odds --  2/1 (William Hill) 

Evtimov  (GK),  Johnson,  Sykes,   Hughes,    Francis-Angol,  Clark,  Conneely (c),  Finley,  McConville,  Baker-Richardson, ⚽ Bishop

Subs – Bursik (Gk),  Edwards,  Sherif,  Pritchard,  Maguire,  Neves Bento De Carvalho,  Charles

  

  

⚽H/T Score – 1 - 0 [42' O'Neill]

First Half Comment;

The Dons kick off today and are quickly attacking winning a few corners, a shot from Callum Reilly is saved and hopefully we will be causing plenty of trouble towards the Stanley goal if the opening few minutes are anything to go by. Seven corners in the opening twelve minutes wish we had a Keith Curle / Marcus Gayle type so we could try and profit from some of these but it's still goalless as we reach the quarter past three mark. Trott makes a good save from Colby Bishop (Accrington Stanley) as his header towards the top right corner is kept out. Stanley have been very lively and their best chances are falling to Courtney Baker-Richardson. And then the breakthrough comes late in the first half as AFC Wimbledon take the lead through ⚽Luke O'Neill (or possibly an own goal) [AFC Wimbledon 1, Accrington Stanley 0] with just a few minutes to go before the half time whistle.

⚽F/T Score – 1 - 1  [42' O'Neill],  [64' Bishop]

Match Summary;
A flurry of bookings and the dismissal of Accrington's Zaine Francis-Angol yet the visitors manage to equalise on 64 minutes via a Colby Bishop header. Despite being a man down the visitors still showed plenty and also able to keep the Dons at bay a disappointing draw when we had the lead and also we not looking to score more than one in a game and very light up front. 

My Man of the Match – Callum Reilly.

Referee -- Our referee for this important League One fixture will be John Busby from Oxford, he was in charge for a couple of our games last season the 2-1 defeat by Sunderland and the 2-1 win against Wycombe. Keeps his cards in his pocket usually with an average of under 2.5 cards per game, should be in reasonably safe hands today. 

Attendance – 3,979.  

Next match:
Tuesday 20th August vs Ipswich Town (Away)
League One 7:45pm