STAR PREVIEW Sun: Racing

Racing from Galway, Sandown, Leicester, and Deauville
Live from Sky Sports Racing HD & Racing TV from 12:00pm

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Yesterday was a frustrating day on the track – Enbihaar apart – but credit must be given to David O’Meara and Danny Tudhope for their much deserved Stewards’ Cup win on Summerghand, one of the most consistent handicap sprinters of recent years and also one of the unluckiest. That he managed to rundown Kimifive under top weight is a testament to his attitude, as well as his class, and another advert for the quality of O’Meara, who took Golden Mile glory in the shape of Prompting this week.

Today is the last day of the week long extravaganza that is Galway, where a couple of horses appeal enough to be final day selections. The first is Fourhometwo in the Lord Hemphill Memorial Irish EBF Median Auction Maiden (3.15). He ran a fine race on debut when second to odds on favourite Southern Cape at Gowran, being slow into stride but responding well to pressure to take a clear second behind the winner. He handled the soft to heavy surface just fine that day – so today’s ground isn’t a worry – and those form claims give him every chance here. With the benefit of that experience, he’ll hopefully be able to jump better than the six drawn inside him and he’s also got a far superior draw to the key form threat, Dame Handy (13). Jessica Harrington’s Malaysian, who should enjoy the drop in trip, is also respected.

The other selection is Njord in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Ahonoora” Handicap (4.20). Just touched off in the Colm Quinn BMW Mile on Tuesday when caught on the wide outside from stall 18, he surely has big claims off the same mark if that race hasn’t left too much of a mark on him. Stall 7 is a much better draw for him today and he has plenty of soft ground form, which makes him a worthy favourite here.

The other top action is the Prix Rotschild at Deauvile (2.50) were two horses stand out. The first is Watch Me, an impressive winner of the Coronation Stakes last year who was a creditable fourth in the Jacques Le Marois before finishing a fine third in the Prix L’Opera. Her return in Listed company was a fine tune-up and she’s got a top form chance if she runs to her best.

The saver is Speak Of The Devil, who was tremendously unlucky in the Pouliches when the moral winner of that contest in June. She was well beaten in the Prix Diane, when she wasn’t good enough but also didn’t appear to stay, and back to a mile she’s worth having onside even if she would need a career best to win this. Summer Romance and Know It All, both Group 3 winners last time, are respected although both are shorter prices than Speak Of The Devil without having impressed in the same way.

Some of the best domestic racing today comes at Newcastle, where we have a number of high class races. The Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap (3.25) is one of those contests and 5/1 about Dark Jedi is fair. The switch to the Tim Easterby yard has rejuvenated him with two wins before an excellent fourth in the John Smith’s Cup and he now gets to race off the same mark which should give him a very fair crack.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Watch Me 2 pts win in 2.50 Deauville at 4/5 with
BACK Speak Of The Devil 1 pt win in 2.50 Deauville at 13/2 with
BACK Fourhometwo 2 pts win in 3.15 Galway at 5/6 with
BACK Dark Jedi 1 pt win in 3.25 Newcastle at 5/1 with
BACK Njord 1 pt win in 4.20 Galway at 5/2 with

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