Saturday Selections — Week One

Despite my limited success in the Betfair column, I did enjoy sitting down and giving a weekly selection. I wanted to continue doing this on my Twitter page in an attempt to regain some credibility. Only one bet this weekend but there might be more on other weeks, I’ll use a points system 3pts being the max.

14:05 Doncaster — Wentworth Stakes (Listed Race)

I was initially drawn to this race through Dakota Gold, his record in these autumn races is quite exceptional. Despite winning the race last year and returning to a distance that may be more his bag these days. I’m just not convinced he’s the horse he was but that’s not to say he’s without a chance. Kings Lynn is understandably the favourite as he boasts some of the best recent form in the race. I do believe he’s seen to best effect over 5f though and having to give weight away to the field may not be the easiest task.

I started to look back at previous renewals and noted that 3yr olds tend to do well here. Since Dream Of Dreams won the race as a 3yr old back in 2017, the following two renewals saw 3yr olds fill the 2nd and 3rd spots. There are only two 3yr olds in the race (Tarhib and Rhythm Master) and they couldn’t be any different from one another. I find it odd that if William Haggas thinks Tarhib is good enough to take in this listed contest that they did not exploit the opening mark of 83. Nothing in his form suggests he’s up to this task and I’m happy to leave him alone.

This week’s selection is RHYTHM MASTER for Richard Fahey. Tried at a high level all season, I think this drop into listed company is really going to help him. He has shown this season that he still retains plenty of ability, the main performance being his run at Royal Ascot when only beaten a couple of lengths by subsequent Group 1 winner Creative Force. Despite being tried over a mile this season, I’m excited to see him drop back to 6f and hope this can bring out the best in him. I went and watched back his effort two starts ago in the Group 2 Cazoo Park Stakes, he didn’t look short of speed that day before being hampered and his run petering out.

The final thing of note is his draw. Coming from stall 4 looks good, with two doors down front runner Bielsa and four away Dakota Gold. Both those runners should be able to take him far in this race.

RHYTHM MASTER 18/1 0.5pt E/W (4 Places)