We take a closer look at the horses moving in the markets across the UK and Ireland today.
The first of the market movers is SEAS OF ELZAAM who runs in the 13:55 at Catterick. 8/1 earlier in the betting, he is now a best price of 3/1 and as short as 2/1. A huge gamble is taking place here for this unraced two-year-old. Son of a Group 1 horse in Elzaam, this colt’s progeny suggests he could be a very smart type. Two of his half-brothers have won, including Vital Wave who won over 6f, which is the distance today. Big market movements on debutants always make for interesting reading and punters have been hammering this one in. Trainer David O’Meara could be expecting a big run from his two-year-old and that may have been a factor in the money coming in for him. It will be fascinating to see whether the money is right and this debutant can kick off his career with a victory this afternoon.
The second market mover of the day is ALICE OBYRNE who is running in the 14:35 at Listowel. She was 11/2 before being punted into a best price of 2/1 and as short as 7/4 with some bookmakers. The five-year-old mare ran a very solid race on her hurdles debut at Tramore last month. She came third that day and was let down by her jumping. However, she will have learnt a vast amount from that outing and arrives here today with the experience needed to win. Rachel Blackmore takes the ride again today which will should help the horse settle into the race. Punters like what they see with this exciting five-year-old and fancy to kick start her hurdling career this afternoon.
The final mover of the day is SHANKSFORAMILLION who runs in the 16:45 at Worcester. The veteran ten-year-old has shortened from 11/2 into a best price of 3/1 and as short as 5/2. He has not managed to get his nose in front for over two years now, however he is dropping rapidly down the weights and today’s race should suit him perfectly. He won three times over this course and distance in 2017 and the ground conditions are the same today as they were on all three occasions back then. He is 7lb lower than his last win there and if he can get close to his form of old then he should easily win this race. That is a big if however, but with streams of money coming in for the gelding, it may suggest the yard have him working close to his best. It is an intriguing gamble and well worth keeping an eye on.
