Prontissimo ticks enough boxes for a solid each-way punt in division one of the Median Auction Maiden Stakes over seven furlongs of Kempton polytrack tonight, on the back of an encouraging course debut three weeks ago.
A 22/1 shot, obviously completely unfancied, Prontissimo began erratically but the penny soon dropped and this Patrick Owens-trained Toronada gelding stayed on strongly to finish a creditable second, beaten only four lengths, to heavily-backed Gentleman Joe; the rest finished seven lengths and upwards in arrears which suggested a fast-run race to sort out the wheat from the chaff..
Certainly my computation of the race-time concurs with that assessment and given decent ‘recovery time’ Prontissimo should improve considerably, so important given Louis Steward’s mount comes out similarly to obvious dangers four-year-old Lammas and trice-raced Trevolli, absent for 165 days since finishing a disappointing fourth. He faces a mountainous task.
Half an hour later 85-rated Painless Potter is napped in division two and I’ll be playing Prontissimo into Alan King’s charge which should have won last month when a vexing one length fourth in similar circumstances on Lingfield ‘poly’ to aptly-named Insomnia!
Mine is never to criticise jockeys; we don’t know the instructions given to them but trying to beat the wide draw, with over-zealousness, contributed to defeat which was far from ‘Painless!’
In the long distant past each-way doubles represented the bulk of my serious betting and at one point bookmakers put a ‘halt’ sign against such investments but nowadays, in a much smaller way, Betfair betting exchange provides a platform; I’ve no hesitation whatsoever advising readers to get an account with a solid structure which precludes debt.
Betfair doesn’t allow credit, a bane of punting and THE reason why so many millions have so-called ‘gambling problems!’
Following this successful column down the years has been profitable because I’ve always adopted a professional business-like approach to ‘investing’ hard-earned money; never forget bookmakers cream off billions of ‘recreation money’ and even target winning accounts as ‘uneconomical’ with their cynical ‘thou shalt not win’ policy. My aim is profit, every month, you can’t win every day.
Aintree stages its second day of the ‘Grand National’ meeting but it’s too tough and competitive for involvement and so my each-way daily patent is made up with Juniper, on a retrieving mission in a Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle over two and a quarter miles of a ‘good’ Sedgefield surface; trainer Harry Whittington’s charge hated soft ground last time.
Selections, Sedgefield, 3.05 Juniper (e.w); Kempton, 4.35 Prontissimo (e.w); 5.05 Painless Potter (nap-e.w).
Jeffrey Ross, horse-racing correspondent for WMN since 1983 when winning the most prestigious racing journalist award, Sporting Life Naps Table, before winning it a record number of six times collectively in the Racing Post, the current ‘trade’ paper, including 2019