Kelso – Friday 18th February

Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit you got the whole day wrong. I was strangely quite confident going into Clonmel yesterday, and as a result put up an amount of selections that one would see very rarely from me on a weekday. The races didn’t go as I had foreseen, and there were a few fairly shocking efforts, so it was a disappointing day all round. The racing today has taken a fair bashing due to Storm Eunice and therefore it has only left us Kelso at the moment, but that is still potentially open to debate with later inspections this morning. 

I am going to take the assumption that it will get the go ahead and I have nominated two selections who I feel have a chance in today’s contests. And there is no better place to start than the 1.00 race, which is a 2m6f handicap hurdle and this looks like one of the more challenging heats on the card, and is very open in the betting as a result. The withdrawals of Be The Difference and Final Reminder have also made it more open and it might be one to side with a horse at an each way price than having too much confidence behind the market leaders. 

Some may remember that two starts back, I put up a horse called Soivegotachance around Newcastle, who failed to fire after hanging violently left under pressure in the home straight. Well he ran a much better race last time out at Sedgefield, confirming to me that the premise of him being well handicapped is true. However, this horse is not straightforward and yet again he was jinking to his left when it mattered most last time, which ended up costing him finishing in the first three. He has dropped another couple of pounds from the assessor on the back of that, and there is no doubt in mind that the natural ability is there to strike off this type of mark, but he needs to straighten up (in every sense!) when push comes to shove today. I am going to take that chance, and at a price of 9/1 with Paddy Power, who are offering 4 places – he is an each way bet. 

The other selection for the day comes in the 3.05 race, which is the 2m5f handicap chase and is the feature event on the card going for good prize money. It has attracted a small but strong field to the table as well, with Empire Steel having some good course form and Silver Hallmark on a retrieval mission, but was a Grade 2 scorer this time last year. It is very competitive and in truth one could make an argument for either of the above horses very easily. 

However, I feel there is a win due to the consistent and honest Pay the Piper – who represents the small Ann Hamilton stable, who have had a wonderful year with their tiny string of horses. In his last two starts, Pay The Piper has just been touched off by some good rivals, and has already won a couple of races this year over the big obstacles. Throughout his career, a hallmark seems to be that he is involved in tight finishes, and he has come out on top in just as many as he has just been foiled. He still seems to be a well handicapped horse in my eyes and I can’t see why he can’t run his usual sound race. This is as far as he would have gone over fences this season, but I think that will help him and he was storming home at Musselburgh last time out. At a price of 5/2 with Paddy Power, I am hoping the piper will be paid!