Looking at the card at Shatin today, it sure looks like this might be The Douglas Whyte-John Size Day.
With Size-trained new horses like Mentor, Dispatcher and Glorious Day going around, one can expect at last three winners for Whyte.
Right Timing and its barrier puts me off.
He then has chances for David Ferraris and Dennis Yip.
Also, the way John Size has been racing Supreme Jewellery- almost every race day- this is one I have potted before and will follow today.
Size is too astute a horseman to put this much work into a horse without expecting a result.
As for Whyte’s book of rides, can they look deceiving?
Sure they can, but one of the biggest problems of racing is over-thinking everything to death.
The other problem is going to the races and receiving too much useless information.
Everyone’s an expert and everyone is a naysayer.
Mention liking one horse and there’ll be ten others who’ll go through every other horse in the same race and leave you dazed and confused.
So, what I do is make my bets before going to the races and so if I miss out on anything, I have only one person to blame: Me.
What really irks me are those who hint- very LOUDLY- that if not for someone else, they WOULD have won.
Would have, might have, could have, I really don’t care.
You win or you lose and you make your own luck and talking through your trouser pockets say much about a person’s character.
So if reading “tips” mess up your plans, stop reading this right here and now.
If still here, I don’t care what anyone says, I think Douglas Whyte will be going home with at least three winners
And if I single out the Size horses with one leg to place and have a 3X1 quinella place bet, getting back even an 8 to 1 result will be excellent value.
There are some horses I’ll be sitting back and watching- Bear Hero being one of them.
Who knows what happened to the horse in Oz?
And though we have all read the reasons, I remain skeptical.
Look, I would love to see the horse to piss in with a leg in the air- though it also would not surprise me if it gets rolled.
It’s too bad that Classic Jewellery has been scratched.
We could have seen how good both horses are.
Right now, a Bear Hero-Fionn’s Treasure quinella looks a dead cert.
One jockey whose rides I’ll be putting into my bets will be those of Tim Clark.
“Clarky” has really taken off like he has a rocket up his bum and is much more than a “lightweight” jockey.
Like Tye Angland, he is strong in a finish without bashing the horse around.
His ride on Viva Freedom last weekend was excellent and Humongus- has the owner spelt this horse’s name correctly? – one of his rides today should, at least, place.
It could even upset Dispatcher and I like this quinella place combination very much.
His ride for David Ferraris- Mighty Feeling- also has a very good chance of running in the top three in race 3.
As for Clarke and his career in Hong Kong, I also like the fact that after all the support he received from David Ferraris when he first got here, he still rides for the trainer and also for many more.
Riding a winner on Wednesday for Richard Gibson shows that his “network” is expanding.
Success attracts envy but it also always attracts success- and winning opportunities.
This is a big call, but if he keeps going the way he is going these days, Tim Clarke can quickly be the most successful Aussie jockey riding in Hong Kong.
I feel there is a “changing of the guard” slowly happening in Hong Kong racing.
A trainer like Richard Gibson- and follow all his horses today- and jockeys like Clarke, Tye Angland, Matthew Chadwick, and Derek Leung and, with or without help from their “translator” and depending on how long their stays in Hong Kong will be- Mickael Barzalona and Maxime Guyon- will be part of this change.
In the meantime, to paraphrase the immortal words of that great poet, Pat Benatar, hit them with your best shot.
It should be a good day at the track.if you don’t over-think something to death- and keep away from the experts.
The races that could be tough are races 5, and race 9 whereas I think number 1 in the last will not win.
I would be looking at City King ridden by Tye Angland and Enthusing and which is being ridden by that in-form team of trainer Richard Gibson and jockey Olivier Delouze.
THE GURU
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