I can’t remember a more enthralling day’s sport than yesterday’s fare. In the afternoon I watched the key bits of Ivanovic/Dechy, including a point where at match point down Ivanovic slams a forehand into the top of the net and it hovers and drops over just on the right side for her. You couldn’t write the script – she wins 10-8 in the third. The one day international was an incredible match that went to the last ball and was won by fielder error. The footie in the evening didn’t let the side down – a highly entertaining game with two late goals.
I feel exhausted from watching all this stuff – I need a holiday.
Kings Head may go tomorrow at Market Rasen. I’ve no other runners in the short term, although the are a few unraced 2yos close to coming out.
Now that Djokovic is out I’m going to back Nadal for Wimbledon. This may seem a bit odd as they were in different halves of the draw, but a Nadal/Federer final looks the call now, and I’d expect Nadal to come through. I thought he was the better player last year and Fed was fortunate to get through it – I’m a huge Fed fan but I think his time is up now.
I’m backing a couple of big drifters at Newcastle today.
Snow Bay in the first is by Bahamian Bounty out of a decent mare from a family of milers. Bahamian Bounty’s progeny invariably prefer 6f to 5f, and typically like a little give. Conditions are right today. Bryan Smart hasn’t had many winners just lately but his horses are running well enough. Snow Bay is out to 11 which feels like the wrong price to me.
Geoff Wragg is, at a cursory glance, in desperate form – four of his last five runners have finished stone last, all pretty much tailed off. I don’t think this means a lot – they looked like a pretty poor bunch, and his other runner finished second in the Ribblesdale. Often a trainer brings all his bad horses out when things are not quite right in the stable though.
Sell Out (4:30) goes for a listed win, and has drifted from around 6 to a price of 23. She’s only won once – on this day last year – and the conditions of the race look right. She should appreciate the give in the ground and her family tend to mature a little later, so she may be worth following.