Our resident pundit was in brilliant form over the weekend and he's got two big-priced fancies today.
3.20 Wolverhampton
ARABELLA ROSE (NAP) (best price 20-1) hails from a stable that wouldn’t normally be associated with first-time-out maiden winners, so her performance when an eye-catching fourth here on debut deserves extra credence and she looks massively overpriced in a race where there doesn’t appear to be too many superstars. Slowly away in what turned out to be a hot contest 17 days ago, Ivan Furtado’s inmate impressed by the way she made up the ground down the back straight– albeit a little too keenly – and in keeping on nicely all the way down the lane, she ran to a decent standard behind two well-regarded Godolphin horses who’ve both go on to advertise the strength of the form with wins since. Not only was it a useful effort visually, her final sectionals of 48.2 and 23.7 were more than creditable for a horse having her first start and if you compare those splits to favourite Blue Bahia’s 48.4 and 24.5 when she was runner-up here last time out over a furlong shorter, it’s clear that the daughter of Monsieur Bond has been hugely underestimated in the market dropping back to a trip that should suit her decent cruising speed.
5.50 Wolverhampton
PIVOTAL DREAM (best price 8-1) finally got her just rewards for many brave attempts here at Dunstall Park and it wouldn’t come as the biggest shock in the world if she were to follow up in this similar heat. Mark Brisbourne’s charge had huffed and puffed more times than the Three Little Pigs prior to that ground-breaking success 11 days, but the way she battle on bravely in the home straight for pressure suggests her appetite for the game despite all those previous losses was clearly undiminished. Nicely drawn in the centre on the pack and hailing from an in-form barn, the daughter of Pivotal came reward each-way support.
