Carlisle 20 October

A cracking afternoons racing awaits at the cumbrian venue this afternoon and i hope it will be a profitable one.

Just watched Sivola De Sivola win the 1st race and my first impressions were if Oscar Davy had jumped the last it would have won. We will never know now but an unfortunate start to proceedings in some regards.

Hobbs will be hoping for better luck in the 2nd race with Ballyquin Queen. A race in which only 4 can be given a serious chance. This horse has shown ability in 3 bumper starts and encouragingly has stamina in his pedigree which is important on a track like Carlisle. Cape Dutch is the likely favourite but has yet to handle easy ground. The form of its recent win is open to debate and looks one to take on under a penalty today. A bigger threat could be the Nigel Twiston Davies runner Double Ross. Similar to the selection is making its hurdle debut today having raced in a bumper in Ireland. Joined a top yard and is open to alot of improvement. In summary the market leaders all have some room for improvement but for betting purposes i will lay Cape Dutch and back Ballquin Queen with a small bet on Double Ross.

We have to wait until the 355 for the next bet to run. This is a good quality 3m hcap chase and the selection is Lucinda Russels Vamizi. The trainer is in great form at present and this half brother to King Harald will love every yard of this trip. Reported to have summered well and a positive tweet earlier from Peter Scudamore all bode well. It is perhaps no surprise that this horse has been well punted all morning. A host of dangers here but one at a price to have a small ew bet on is Mohi Rahrere trained by Barry Leavy. An excellent record fresh this horse is returning from a 4 month lay off and if fresh is the time to catch this horse then it has the ability to go very close at a nice 20-1.

The 500 novice chase is the race i am most looking forward to. It is a no bet race for me but a must watch. Aikman, Bold Sir Brian and Frascati Park are quality horses and it will be interesting to see how they fare over fences.