Daily write-up - Mar 16th

There are a couple of NH meetings this afternoon, at Taunton and Southwell.

There’s nothing to get too excited about on either card – and I suspect it will be like this most days now, until the end of the TVB season (2 weeks tomorrow !).

That said, there are still a couple of Saturdays to go – and indeed one or two potentially interesting  midweek meetings – so hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to finish the season with a bit of a flourish.

There won’t be much flourishing today however, as opportunities are decidedly thin on the ground.

I did consider tips in a couple of the later races on the Taunton card, but just didn’t feel that the cases weren’t sufficiently compelling…

In the handicap hurdle at 4:20, I was quite interested in The Road Ahead.

She was a general 8/1 shot early – 10/1 in a place – which was definitely tempting.
However, I was concerned about the presence of a couple of unexposed sorts from big stables (The Chuckmeister and Border Breaker).
It’s interesting to see that she has been well backed (now 6/1 best), whilst Border Breaker in particular, in very weak.

In truth, there is a fair bit of speculation about The Road Ahead – but she’s back from a break, in a first time hood – and that looks an interesting move to me.

Furthermore, her handicap mark looks exploitable – whilst she is the only runner Peter Bowen has sent down to Taunton.

I possibly should have pulled the trigger at 8:30 – but I didn’t, and now feel we’ve missed the boat…

It’s a similar story with the other one I was interested in at Taunton, Shy John in the handicap chase at 4:50.

In fairness, not tipping him was a more measured decision, as I didn’t feel there was too much value in the 4/1, available at 8:00.

You won’t beat 3/1 now – and that certainly holds limited appeal against some potentially interesting rivals.

Certainly if either Pigpen Island or As De Fer re-find their form, they are handicapped to win: whilst victory for Strawberry Hill, Gunna be a Devil or Finish the Story, wouldn’t be a massive surprise…

There is little of interest on the Southwell card.

In the opener, I will be keeping an eye on Sea Current, who is a horse I’ve been watching all season.

The trouble is, he messed up his handicap mark by finishing close on the heals of Vibrtao Voltat at Warwick a few runs back.

Maybe not too surprisingly, he has finished last on his 2 subsequent runs – but the handicapper has only relented to the tune of 7lb.

A heavy defeat today, would likely see his handicap mark dropped significantly – so with that potential carrot, I’d struggle to back him at short odds (even if I do think he’s got the ability to hack up this afternoon !).

In the following race on the card, Alpancho is the one of interest.

He’s won well after a break in the past, so I could easily see him going in again today.

That said, there is a fair bit of guess work in involved - and 11/2 looks about the right price.

Best of luck if you do choose to get involved.

TVB.