Thursday April 15th

A fine say yesterday, 18pts profit on the day thanks to Red Jazz' handy win at 11/2, which was a ridiculous price as I said - win or lose. Prizefighting didn't like the ground in my opinion.

A damn fine card today again.

3.35 Newmarket Markazzi 2pts each-way @ 10/1 (Stan James, guaranteed)

There's something about Elusive Pimpernel that made me take a mental note that I would oppose him as a three year old until he proved he had held his form over from his 2yo season. His physicality as a two year old, and style of racing, suggests to me that he could be vulnerable today and I'm not sure he is value at 5/4. Essentially we are looking for horses who will be ready to go today, and will have made good progress from two to three, and the chief contender amongst the rest of the field is Sir Michael Stoute's Markazzi. The selection confirmed his debut promise with a good win at Leicester (runner up franked form) and to be honest it looked as if Markhazzi had a few extra gears to go through. He was well suited by the good to firm ground that day:

"He's still a little bit immature but he did it nicely. he moved down to post beautifully so he liked this ground and he's got a super temperament, all he does is yawn and eat and he's a very nice horse" - Jimmy Scott, trainer's representative

If I was looking for a quote to reassure me that he was a three year old in the making, this was it. He followed up the maiden win with a down the field run in a sales race over seven furlongs at this course, but you can strike that form off as he was clearly disadvantaged by the draw. He was put away for the winter then, and makes his reappearance today in a race Stoute has won in recent years with King In Waiting and Addagio. Richard Hills takes the ride for his retained owner and I think 10/1 is a great each-way price. Most of these have to prove they've trained on well enough for Group company, and I'm not keen on the others at the top of the market - happy to back this fella at double figure odds.

7.10 Kempton Mirror Lad 5pts win @ 15/8 (Bet 365, guaranteed)

I'm hoping this drifts at some stage, but I think Mirror Lad is just about worth a bet at 15/8. He ran a nice race first time up when clearly well fancied, sent off joint fav for the Brocklesby. His rider used plenty of petrol to bag the rail, and he showed plenty of early dash before fading. He also probably raced on an unfavourable part of the track as for most of the contest the action developed up the middle. In a much weaker contest, he is the one to beat if he shows only normal improvement - he is drawn well and if the jockey judges the pace correctly, he may not see another horse.