'Mission' to make up for Rip's nightmare
Saturday November 14 2009
AS if doing my brains on Rip Van Winkle last Saturday night wasn't bad enough, there were a couple of copies of the Indo (in which I'd tipped him) floating around my local pub for all to see.
There was no hiding the evidence and I took a right old ribbing from the lads when the American superstar Zenyatta powered home with my tip of the day coming a miserable 10th place.
People think us keyboard tappers have a pampered life -- but when you get cornered by a punter who has had too many pints of plain and has also done his moolah on one of your tips, it's not always a barrel of laughs!
outstanding
But credit where its due and fair play to Zenyatta for putting in an outstanding performance.
Perhaps Sea The Stars was right to stay at home?
A victory for the layers on Saturday then, but when I spotted Operation Houdini running in a handicap hurdle at Navan on Sunday, I was fairly confident of getting my money back plus more.
It's well worth keeping this horse on your side and connections have made some sound decisions in the races they've placed him in.
On his chase form, he had absolute bucketloads in hand and I quickly priced him up in my head at 1/2.
The forecast price said 4/1, but he was never going to be that high and when he opened up around evens, I thought it was a good deal.
I know not all chasers revert to sticks with ease but a quick call to one of his owners (Johnny Ward of the Sunday Indo) confirmed that he was a good thing and my money was down. He won with plenty in hand but I made the mistake of cheering him on while the wife was flicking through an IKEA brochure -- so all my winnings are now sitting in a Swedish bank account somewhere.
Johnny tells me that Navan's Troytown is the next logical target and he's definitely a horse to stick in your notebook as he's capable of winning more going forward.
But that was last week, and as that great philosopher George W Bush once said: "I think we all agree, the past is over," -- so let's get back to today and continue the tussle with the layers. It's over to West Yorkshire for today's main bet, and 11/4 could be a few ticks too high for Mission Control in the Book Online @ wetherbyracing.co.uk Novices' Hurdle (3.55). I'm a big fan of Tim Vaughan's way of training, and this four-year-old former flat horse looks like he's going places over obstacles. Arkose beat him in a similar contest at Huntingdon earlier on this month, but the selection made a schoolboy error when jumping and couldn't regain composure. Despite the mistake, I was impressed with how he stayed on under pressure and he should be able to put things right this afternoon. Any big market moves would be significant and he's successfully landed a couple of gambles in the past.
Giulietta Da Vinci has not been the most consistent sort in the world but she should have enough to take the claimer at Lingfield (1.30) priced around 2/1. She's been disappointing in a couple of nurseries to date, but trainer Richard Hannon has found a weak race and she may have a bit in hand against a mediocre looking bunch.
The big one today is the Paddy Power Gold Cup (2.35 Cheltenham), where Alan King's Tarotino has each-way claims in a competitive renewal.
The Nicholls horses will be hard to beat and King hasn't been firing on all cylinders of late -- however, Tarotino is a reliable sort that jumps well and sending him back to handicap company has proved fruitful.
You can be sure of a good run for your money at a decent price -- and Paddy Power will kindly refund your losing single stake should a Nicholls horse win.
- WAYNE BAILEY
Irish Independent
