KEMPTON PARK RACES 2019 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #31 4th December

Now into the final month of our year long efforts here at Kempton and its been a slog I have to admit. Never mind at least we tried something as an experiment and saw it through to the end, maybe we'll just do the lay bets in 2020 as they seem to have gone fairly well. The first of our December meetings now and the decorations are up, the cards are being written and the big day will be upon us before we know it. A month long series of Train Strikes by South Western Railway and RMT is already annoying me with the daily commute. While AFC Wimbledon had a week off and the next game against Bolton is one we would hope to win and help keep us away from the drop zone, off the field activities surrounding the new stadium development are keeping us busy enough though.

Has been a very up and down year overall not just with the racing though the last month was encouraging so with the Autumn and Winter months to come we 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 move onward with this our thirty first 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 -67.945 points to SP returns overall. We continue to battle hard to reduce this and thankfully there is still a few months to get this back. 

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 meeting we managed to get another two odds on favourites beat so we are now 38/52 (73%) we will continue with this through 2019.

This Wednesday will be meeting number thirty one for the 2019 AW season and we are expecting a bumper eight race card tonight during which we will have six handicaps (which will include the 6f 2yo nursery at 16:40). The action which will now commence earlier at 15:40 with a 7f handicap, and we also include the valuable Listed event (Wild Flower Stakes) at 17:40, tonight's card ends around about 19:10 with 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 cloudy weather with a crisp chill in the air so wrap up warm the best we expect the temperature to reach is around 6C by the time the meeting gets underway. brrrr

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

15:40 -- 7f Handicap.

A busy card that begins a little earlier than usual tonight, the opening 7f handicap has a field of 14 declared headed by RAJMAN [WON 6/1] the three year old looks up against it off this weight against more experienced opposition today.

ELUSIF [Non Runner] represents some value at 16/1, a triple winner here earlier in the year off higher marks, has now slipped in the weights and should run well with Josie Gordon a positive jockey booking. Will also go with RED COSSACK [Non Runner] the 8yo has continued to run well here and won't find a lower grade race to contest for a while retains his ability despite advancing years so another at big price worth a look.

16:40 -- 6f Nursery Handicap (2yo).

The only 2yo nursery contest is over six furlongs and we've a field of a dozen to consider, I know a bit about MISS THOUGHTFUL [9th 20/1] trained by Jamie Osborne having seen her run second last time out here and has Nicola Currie again in the saddle. While ROYAL COUNCIL [10th 20/1] has yet to win the colt has gone off favourite a few times and must be doing something on the gallops to warrant that support, is not a forlorn hope and given a chance to shine tonight.

17:10 -- 6f Handicap.

A class 2 sprint handicap to support the listed event on this card and worth a tidy £15k+ to the winner, HARRY'S BAR [WON 4/1] together with LADY DANCEALOT [6th 3/1] are our pick against the field both have plenty of all weather experience and win their fair share too although a slight step up in class tonight

17:40 -- 1m 3f 219y Wild Flower (listed) Stakes.

A feature event tonight is the listed Wild Flower stakes worth over £25k to the winner tonight, and won last year by Spark Plug for trainer Brian Meehan. Eight in the declarations headed by COLLIDE and this Frankel colt did win here in April and returns after a layoff so might need the race. WEEKENDER is the likely favourite here and rated 112 should be a little bit ahead of the field too. Will take him on though with a pair that aren't too far behind on the book, LOXLEY [2nd 9/4f] has been campaigned by trainer Charlie Appleby around France and Dubai and rated closely with Weekender on some of that form, might find it a bit colder here in Surrey than they have elsewhere and along with MILDENBERGER [6th 13/2] of Mark Johnston's this 4yo last race was a good 3rd behind Stradivarius in the Yorkshire Cup, and also placed in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket, has chances.

18:10 -- 1m 3f 219y Handicap.
A lower grade event next where we side with the pair of CULLIN [6th 5/1] a 4yo filly for trainer Noel Williams, along with DEBBONAIR [5th 3/1] the 3yo gelding for Hugo Palmer's yard.

18:40 -- 1m Handicap.

SCOFFLAW [3rd 11/1] heads the weights in this handicap and a winner last time at Wolves could still be interesting in this line up at 12/1 if in the same mood drawn one might be an issue though. Last year the winner was drawn eight, and in that stall this time is the bottom weight MERWEB [2nd 16/1] who has place form off this mark yet might be able to find little more getting all the weight and allowances tonight.

19:10 -- 1m Handicap.

We end tonight's card with a mile handicap where PURPLE PADDY [6th 9/2] can make a good attempt at the hat trick here under rider Mark Crehan who now claims 5lb, might have most to fear from Josie Gordon riding MAISIE MOO [12th 25/1] a winner here in October and returns to this track after two runs at Wolves.

Staked -- 14 points.

Returns -- 14 points.


Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. This season we are sadly down by -67.945 points to SP returns. Final month of the season to go and we will end up with an additional NH meeting here for the King George Chase on Boxing Day. 

LAYS -- 38/52. Did ok with our latest series of lay bets again last week and we will try to find another one or two successful lay bets this time around and these will show up here later on tonight. Beat the fav again tonight, now 39/53.

Tonight's Lays;

16:10 - Al Dawodiya [6f 2yo Novice Stakes] LOST 2nd 6/4f

Our thirty second meeting for this year will be held next week on Wednesday 11th December so hope to see you then and throughout the rest of 2019. Maybe we'll be back next year...

FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW, MONDAY 2nd DECEMBER [BBC2 7PM]

The draw for the Third Round of this years Emirates FA Cup will be made later on tonight, it will be broadcast live on the BBC Two Channel from around 7pm and although sadly my club Afc Wimbledon have failed to make it into the draw this season it's still a feature day of the seasonal calendar as the top flight sides from the Premier League and the Championship enter the fray.

There are 64 Numbers in the "hat" for the Third Round, The 44 clubs from the Premier League and Championship enter the fray at this stage, joining the 20 clubs who prevail from this weekend's second round ties. The Etihad Stadium, home of reigning FA Cup champions Manchester City, is the venue for what remains one of the most-anticipated events in the domestic football calendar. The third-round draw throws up the possibility of small or part-time clubs facing big-time opponents. League Two Newport dumped Leicester out of the competition at this stage a year ago, so who of the remaining non league sides will be doing the giant killing this season, AFC Fylde are one having beaten fellow non league opponents Kingstonian on Saturday, they are joined by the likes of Eastleigh, Boston and Hartlepool although they will all have replays to resolve before they can reach round three while the final 2nd round tie is Solihull Moors vs Rotherham which will kick off later on tonight.

Mark Chapman will host the programme and in charge of the draw will be former Arsenal captain Tony Adams and ex Manchester City defender Micah Richards pulling out the balls. The third round is scheduled to take place over the weekend of Saturday 4th January 2020.

Winning clubs will receive £135,500 after The FA doubled the prize fund at the beginning of the season. The draw will be updated here as it unfolds live;

      Leicester City    Vs    Wigan Athletic

      Queens Park Rangers    Vs    Swansea City
      Fulham    Vs    Aston Villa
      Chelsea    Vs    Nottingham Forest
      Wolves    Vs    Manchester United
      Charlton Athletic    Vs    West Brom
      Rochdale / Boston United    Vs    Newcastle United
      Cardiff City    Vs    Forest Green Rovers / Carlisle United

      Oxford United    Vs    Exeter City / Hartlepool United

      Sheffield United    Vs    AFC Fylde
      Southampton    Vs    Huddersfield Town
      Liverpool    Vs    Everton
      Bristol City    Vs    Shrewsbury Town
      Bournemouth    Vs    Luton Town
      Brighton and Hove Albion    Vs    Sheffield Wednesday
      Bristol Rovers / Plymouth Argyle  Vs  Coventry City / Ipswich

      Eastleigh / Crewe Alex    Vs    Barnsley

      Manchester City    Vs    Port Vale
      Middlesbrough    Vs    Tottenham Hotspur
      Reading    Vs    Blackpool 
      Watford    Vs    Tranmere Rovers
      Preston North End    Vs    Norwich City
      Millwall    Vs    Newport County
      Crystal Palace    Vs    Derby County

      Rotherham   Vs   Hull City

      Brentford    Vs    Stoke City
      Fleetwood Town    Vs    Portsmouth
      Arsenal    Vs    Leeds United
      Gillingham    Vs    West Ham United
      Burton Albion    Vs    Northampton Town
      Burnley    Vs    Peterborough United
      Birmingham City    Vs    Blackburn Rovers

      

Good luck to all in the 3rd round, us Dons will have to get back to the league one form in the meantime with a game against Bolton Wanderers to come. The TV ties will almost certainly include the Merseyside derby Liverpool v Everton and the Arsenal v Leeds tie looks tasty too.

KEMPTON PARK RACES 2019 -- WEDNESDAY NIGHTS #30 27th November

Little over a month left to go of this season, was hopeful of a more productive second half to the year but we struggling a little. Never mind at least we tried something as an experiment and saw it through to the end, maybe we'll just do the lay bets in 2020 they seem to have gone well.  End of November meeting now with December fast approaching and the Christmas adverts already annoying me. While Wimbledon where busy winning 1-0 against Gillingham to move us a couple more places above the drop zone we also witnessed the first few big races of the NH Season, Altior losing his unbeaten record to Cyrname at Ascot and Lostintranslation winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock beating dual winner Bristol De Mai.

Has been a very up and down year overall not just with the racing though the last month was encouraging so with the Autumn and Winter months to come we 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 move onward with this our thirtieth 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 -58.945 points to SP returns overall. We continue to battle hard to reduce this and thankfully there is still a few months to get this back. 

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 meeting we managed to get another two odds on favourites beat so we are now 37/50 (74%) we will continue with this through 2019.

This Wednesday will be meeting number thirty for the 2019 AW season and we are expecting a bumper eight race card tonight during which we expect to have six handicaps (which will include two 2yo nurseries). The action which will now commence at 16:10 with a 6f novice stakes, our first nursery handicap contest is at 16:40, tonight's card ends around about 19:40 with our final handicap contest over a shade under 1m 4f.

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 with a chill in the air so wrap up warm and a good chance of showers so keep dry and safe in the bars the best we expect the temperature to reach is around 12C by the time the meeting gets underway.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight, time is short and too many work meetings so selections today until I can update later;

16:40 -- 1m Nursery Handicap (2yo).

Our opening handicap event is a nursery for 2yo's over the mile trip, has attracted a field of 12 runners headed by Summeronsevenhills [Non Runner] trained by Richard Hughes a winner recently at Chelmsford and returns to the all weather under a penalty, likely to be the favourite so will aim to oppose for something at bigger odds tonight. Preference is for the pair of TIRITOMBA [3rd 5/1] (Richard Hannon) and MAGIC TWIST [11th 33/1] (Mark Johnston) both trainers are prolific with their youngsters and have already shown some place form.

17:10 -- 1m Handicap.
Another mile handicap up next, this time for older horses although it is prominently 3yo's here, a field of 14 declared. Selections are for a couple of the older horses OUD METHA BRIDGE [10th 16/1] / THE CHILDREN'STRUST [6th 10/1].

18:10 -- 7f Nursery Handicap (2yo).
Our second nursery handicap now and only the six runners to view, with FUWAYRIT [4th 2/1] (Mark Johnston) and LETHAL TALENT [3rd 5/1] (Jon Portman) our pair of selections against the rest of the field. The Johnston horse has been well supported for his last three races and winning two of them, didn't break well enough at Chester to get involved and faded but this track should be more to Fuwayrit's liking. The filly Lethal Talent has two all weather wins including around here and is most likely to bring the challenge tonight.

18:40 -- 7f Handicap.

SIX STRINGS  [5th 20/1].
SIR HAMILTON  [12th 12/1].

19:10 -- 1m 2f 219y Handicap.

TOROCHICA [3rd 3/1].
CONTRAST [7th 14/1].

19:40 -- 1m 3f 219y Handicap (3yo).

Only a field of five made it into the finale, looks a match between SASHENKA along with SWEET CELEBRATION [WON 2/1] where the latter is probably preferred with the 7lb claim from her rider very useful in this company. Of the other three I also like the look of CAPLA CRUSADER another course and distance winner so if Sweet Celebration proves to be too short a price to back today (if under 6/4f) then maybe we switch to that one.

Staked -- 12 points.

Returns -- 3 points.

Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. This season we are sadly down by -58.945 points to SP returns. Now only another month of the season to go and we will end up with an additional meeting here for the King George Chase on Boxing Day. Just one winner, very disappointing end to the year now down by -67.945 points to SP. 

LAYS -- 37/50. Got our lay bets beat again last week and we will try to find another one or two successful lay bets this time around and these will show up here later on tonight. Mixed bag tonight, one beaten fav, one winner (odds on) and the other a non runner. Moves to 38/52

Tonight's Lays;

16:10 Thrilla In Manila [6f Novice 3yo] LOST 2nd 7/4f
16:40 Summeronsevenhills [1m Nursery 2yo] NR
17:40 Boccaccio [7f Novice 2yo]. WON 4/9f

Our thirty first meeting for this year will be held next week on Wednesday 4th December so hope to see you then and throughout the rest of 2019. Maybe we'll be back next year...