Welcome to MarkYourCard for racing on Monday.
Taken me far longer than i would have liked to get todays done. There are the selections for monday. Good luck if you play along
Drops In Class
7.45 Kempton - Artic Thunder @ 6.5 - 4 places
Dropped back into a class 4 race for the first time in handicap racing. This one was a Balding horse at 2 and 3yo, made the switch to Ed Walker starting in 2025 from a mark of 88. Had been running respectably in class 2 and 3 events .. OR dropping very slowly as the horse seems to be putting in decent performances, but running just slightly above a level its capable of winning from.
Drops into a class 4 here for the first time tomorrow and also gets a 5lb claimer up top to help out a little more.
Average OR in this race is just 82. Last time out that average OR was 88.
At 5yo now, he should be reaching peak form, so it is time to give the horse a chance to win races and show what he can do, rather than keep running well and picking up place money in higher grade handicap events that are notoriously competitive.
Worth once again taking a ahcen on this one to show a little more against a lower class horse in a race he should be able to go close to winning based on form alone.
Notebook Horses
We had a go at this one a couple of races ago, and I’m not going to give up on it just yet.
17:30 Pontefract : Hostelry @ 8.0 - 3 places
The horse went on a great run in 2024 handicap mark went from 55 to 68. Mark fell back down to 53 by April 25 .. and then a series of good runs took the horse back up to a mark of 68. Now back down to a mark of 53 again tomorrow, it looks like we could be getting back in at the bottom.
I would normally worry about regression from a 9yo Mare, but the horse won 5 times last year, and that kind of form does not just simply go away. As the horse gets older, the ceiling will drop and the ability to perform at the higher levels will reduce, but there seems to still be life left in this one.
Beaten around 2l in two of her last 3 runs, she is not too far away at the business end. One of these will land right for her eventually and at the price I think its worth taking a shot in this one.
Speed Figure Picks
17:00 Pontefract - Big Apple Jack @ 7.5 - 3 Places
20:00 Windsor - Seagolazo @ 8.5 - 3 places
20:30 Windsor - Lady Of The Isles @ 9.5 - 4 places
21:00 Windsor - Monsieur Patat @ 5.0 - win bet