Sky Dogs

One horse I fancy up at Ayr this afternoon and one I don't.

Tom Tower goes in the 16:10 after bouncing back to form last time. This is his grade and while 6/4 isn't a great price its just about acceptable. I'll have 15 points to win at that price or better.

Royal Destination looks to have a decent chance in the 16:40 and Jeremy Noseda doesn't often send one up to the Scottish venue. I do object to the best offer of 9/4 though which is based on the trainer and the horse's potential rather than form. I'll lay him to lose 19 points. Against the jolly I've also backed White Deer (5 points at 6/1) and Toto Skyllachy (4 points at 15/2).

Suitably Accoutred showed a vast improvement in form 3 days ago to win at Hamilton and she goes again at Beverley this evening. Given her previous form I wouldn't want to take a short price about her though and am prepared to lay her to lose 20 points at 11/4.

Against her I'll also back Art Value and Shekan Star. 5 points to win on each at 6/1 or better.

Suitably Accoutred; Lost
Profit / Loss; +7.04 points

Art Value; 2nd
Profit / Loss; -6.00 points

Shekan Star; Lost
Profit / Loss; -6.00 points

A quick one ...

Lay Bollin Greta to lose 25 points at 5/2 or less.
Back Society Venue, 8 points at 10/3 or better.
Back Ross Moor, 4 points at 7/1 or better.

Bollin Greta; 1st
Profit / Loss; -25.00 points

Society Venue; Lost
Profit / Loss; -8.00 points

Ross Moor; Lost
Profit / Loss; -4.00 points

Stateside is in good form at the moment and looks capable of following up her recent Hamilton win in the closing race at Redcar this evening.

Victor Chandler offer the best price of 19/20 and while I'm not a real fan of odds on punting it looks fair enough and I'll have 14 points to win.

Stateside; 2nd
Profit / Loss; -14.00 points

Off to my local course Haydock Park this afternoon, I can't really find anything for a serious bet there so a couple of small wagers and a couple of cold beers will be the order of the day.

Down at Yarmouth I don't really fancy current favourite Al Azy for the apprentice race at 17:30. David Simcock's colt is an inconsistent sort and is probably better over further. At 3/1 I'll lay him to lose 18 points.

To try and squeeze a bit more out of the race I'm going to back Dobravany (7 points at 4/1 or better) and Clipperdown (6 points at 9/2 or better).

Al Azy; 1st
Profit / Loss; 0.00 points (lay unmatched)

Dobravany; Lost
Profit / Loss; -7.00 points

Clipperdown; 3rd
Profit / Loss; -6.00 points

Not a pretty month ...

The strategy has been tweaked slightly, place betting has been dumped for now and I've added some win bets to try and take advantage of when I find a favourite to lay. I'm fairly happy with things at the moment, I just think its been one of those runs which happens now and again. The trick is to still be in the game when things pick up ... I hope!

Overall I am still just over 74 points in profit and running at around 10% on turnover. That's a little low really but I've only had 67 bets since mid April so we'll see how things go over a longer period.

A poor June on the horses front though the dogs are keeping things ticking over. Hopefully July will be kinder and I'll kick off in the 15:30 at Catterick this afternoon.

Summer Dancer is in good form but up in grade for this race. The top price of 9/4 looks short enough to me and I'll lay to lose 17 points at that price. I'll also back Bold Marc (10 points at 11/4 or better) and Turn Me On (5 points at 11/2 or better) to take advantage of the vunerable favourite.

Summer Dancer; Lost
Profit / Loss; +7.42 points

Bold Marc; 1st
Profit / Loss; +27.50 points

Turn Me On; 2nd
Profit / Loss; -5.00 points

The Cesarewitch from Oxford is the big race on Sky Sports 3 this evening. It's a tough looking card but here are my selections -

19:40 T5 Mountjoy Ruby 11/4 Totesport
20:15 T6 Freedom Emma 9/4 Various
21:25 T5 Hillcross Orion 4/1 Hills

Good luck to all connections and to you if you have a bet.

Only time for a quick post -

15:45 Hamilton -

Lay Stateside to lose 21 points at 5/2
Back Regents Secret, 5 points to win at 6/1 or better
Back Theonebox, 4 points to win at 13/2 or better

Stateside; 1st
Profit / Loss; 0.00 points (lay unmatched)

Regents Secret; Lost
Profit / Loss; -5.00 points

Theonebox; Lost
Profit / Loss; -4.00 points

The jolly for the five furlong handicap at Lingfield this evening is Matterofact and while she is consistent mare she tends to get placed in races rather than win. She should go well but I wouldn't want to back her to put her head in front where it counts and I'll lay her to lose 17 points at 3/1.

I'm also going to back Cape Royal (8 points at 100/30) and Rocker (6 points at 9/2) against Malcolm Saunders' charge.

Matterofact; 1st
Profit / Loss; -16.98 points

Cape Royal; 3rd
Profit / Loss; -8.00 points

Rocker; 2nd
Profit / Loss; -6.00 points