Good morning all,

I could have written about the excitement of Saturday’s Shergar Cup but I won’t. I can see the point of the event, it probably does bring people to the races that wouldn’t normally attend a fixture at Ascot and the jockeys seem to enjoy it, as it’s something different to their day to day routine.

A ‘Girls Team’, now what’s that all about? Are they all 13-year-olds? Hayley Turner and Emma Jayne Wilson, are not girls they are both in their 30s, so hardly girls. That casual sexism isn’t even in the spirit of these international jockey challenges. Yes, I am a Shergar Cup killjoy and proud of it. The event bears no resemblance to what horse racing is about, it’s not a team game! It’s meaningless rubbish and not for me as a betting option.

Right, that’s me off the old soap box. Now let's celebrate a real racing achievement.

Time to Salute Spencer

Jamie Spencer is a jockey who really divides punters like no other. You either like him or you don’t there is no halfway house when it comes to Jamie, I am firmly in the former camp by the way.

On Saturday, ironically in the Shergar Cup, the jockey had his 2,000 winner. A champion jockey on both sides of the Irish Sea, he won his first classic, the Irish 1.000 Guineas, as a 17-year-old. He even won the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival in 2002. The supreme big race jockey and in a big field handicap there is no better sight than seeing him weaving his way through the field to pull off an unlikely win. Yep, he makes more mistakes than Ryan Moore but he has won races on horses that other jockeys wouldn’t have.

He might be a great exponent of the hold-up ride but as we saw on Sunday at Deauville, he is a fantastic rider from the front too, as he made all to win on the Luca Cumani trained 3-year-old filly God Given. The 37-year-old has plenty of years riding still ahead of him and racing will be a poorer when he does finally hang up his riding boots.

One For The Tracker:

Juliet Foxtrot trained by Charles Hills caught my eye on her racecourse debut at Newmarket on Saturday. The daughter of Dansili didn’t make the best of starts and in a modestly run race, she did well to finish within three lengths of the winner. She showed enough promise to think that a maiden can come her way this season either on grass or all weather. Her full brother Cartago won twice as juvenile both over a mile, so a step up in trip should help, as will a sounder surface than she faced here.

Stat Corner:

In last weeks Stat Corner, I suggested you watch out for Richard Fahey and Tony Hamilton when teaming up over 7f & 1m at Redcar. They had two runners there on Saturday, one of them is still running, I think, but the second Rashford’s Double ran a cracker to finish second at odds of 11/1.

This week I am turning my attention to a trainer who I mentioned earlier Luca Cumani and his record at Doncaster, which incidentally race on Saturday. Since 2014 the trainer had 20 winners from 73 runners 27% +14.01 A/E 1.3 41 placed 56% at Doncaster.

An excellent strike rate but if you had focused, on his 3 & 4-year-old’s, racing over distances between 1m 2f to 1m 4f the profit and strike rate would have been even better with 18 winners from 45 runners 40% +31.1 A/E 1.84 27 placed 60%

N.B. Luca Cumani trained 3 or 4-year-olds, racing over middle distances at Doncaster

Trainer James Bethell and jockey Ted Durcan are a combination worth noting when they team up at Wolverhampton. Since 2014 they have had 7 winners from 20 runners 35% +11.75 A/E 1.82 12 placed 60% +15.82 at the track and they team up for one on this evening’s card.

6:50 – Plage Depampelonne – The 3-year-old returns from a 56-day break but ran well enough after an even longer lay off when finishing 2nd in a maiden over 1m 4f here back in May to think she will be fit enough today. Ran well enough on her handicap debut when 2nd again behind Dominating at Nottingham over today’s 1m 6f trip to think she is capable of winning a modest handicap at around this distance. She ran too bad to be true at Wetherby on her last start but the absence from the track, suggests that something wasn’t right with the filly on that occasion. A mark of 66 looks workable and trainer James Bethell is among the winners.

Monday Selection:

6:50 – Plage Depampelonne – 15/2 or better

All that’s left now is to wish you profitable weeks punting.

You can benefit from Victor Value expertise and tips every day when you take a trial of his service for just £1 – Click Here