This is more like it! A wet and overcast Thursday in October is precisely the sort of day that should be spent plotting up in the West Country, with a couple of good chances to back a winner over the sticks at Wincanton included into the bargain.
I love Wincanton, not least because they have an amazing sandwich shop on the nearby high street called Fernstrom and Farrell, the type of gaff you pop inside wanting nothing more than a humble bacon sandwich, but emerge 25 minutes later staggering under the weight of a five gallon drum of 14% proof flat local cider, a cornish pasty proudly boasting it contains only locally murdered stoat, squirrel and badger, a jar of chilli paste so hot even a 90 year old curry taster from Calcutta would run a mile, plus a sliver of Somerset cheddar so expensive it could be mistaken for a rare Italian truffle (not Ferrero Rocher).
Just make sure you’ve got a creative accountant who can put it all through as expenses. Priceless.
As for the sports I definitely wouldn’t put you off taking a chance on a senior citizen in the 2m 5f 0-110 Handicap Chase at 2.50pm, that’s the 10 year old Gunship for Dorset handler Cathy Hamilton and regular pilot Mark Quinlan (who claims three).
Getting weight from all his five rivals off a mark of 97 this front running son of Needle Gun knows where the winning post is, having won five over fences to date.
Granted he can occasionally have his own ideas about the game, such as when waving the white flag over hurdles last time out at Worcester back in July.
Hopefully a bit of TLC and a 99 day break will have repaired any dents that display created, and if he can reproduce the form of his second to Marigolds Way at Newton Abbot in June (off an identical mark) then he ought to be right there in a race that lacks depth.
He isn’t a star, but this Philip Hobbs cast-off will get them all on the stretch if we catch him on a going day, a small field on fast-ish ground could see him to best effect, and at 13/2 in a six horse race it looks a risk worth taking.
Especially as you can pick holes in all his opponents; you couldn’t touch the other 10 year old in the field Surfboard after the stinker he ran at Exeter last week, The Darling Boy usually finds one too good, Sadler’s Star had been hard to win with and only beat three finishers when winning at Fontwell, a victory for which he went up eight pounds, Petito remains a maiden in 37 races, and the only one I’d fear despite being a 25/1 shot is Foreign King, who has been in desperate form but is capable when in the groove and might be rejuvenated back over fences off a tumbling mark.
Given that Gunship receives weight from that lot I can resist a slice of the 13/2 on offer with Boylesports. Win bet.
Later on the card a pair of recent winners clash in the 2m 0-110 Handicap Hurdle at 4.20pm, and I’m firmly in the Giant O Murchu camp as the seven year old attempts to follow up his facile Towcester wins of eight days ago under Harry Skelton.
Now that Lawney Hill has had some time to work her magic there should be plenty more to come from this ex-Irish point-to-point recruit, and I can’t see a seven pound penalty preventing a bold bid, and the 7/2 with several of the firms looks worth a squirt. Win bet.
Good luck!
Thursday’s best bets at Wincanton:
2.50 – Bathwick Tyres Yeovil Handicap Chase – 6 Gunship (win) @ 13/2 (Boylesports)
4.20 – Bathwick Tyres Handicap Hurdle – 4 Giant O Murchu (win) @ 7/2 (Boylesports, Paddy Power, Victor Chandler or William Hill)
