Ballymac Ace put in a terrific performance when landing the Pall mall at Oxford last night. He trapped third, but showed blistering early pace to make the bend in front, then proceeded to draw right away from a decent field beating Step On Lee by 4 1/2 lengths in a rapid 26.38. This April '08 son of Ace Hi Rumble, like many of last night's runners will be heading to Sunderland for next month's Willam Hill Festival. Chris Allsopp will be delighted at the way Ballymac Ace overcame a difficult draw in trap 5, and the track at Sunderland should suit him down to the ground. We put him up ante post at 16/1, so our luck may now have taken a change for the better after a few near misses. There was a sad post script to the final when Anagram, who trapped smartly, broke down at the first bend. It was Allsopp's assistant trainer Paul Anderson who leapt onto the track quick as a flash to rescue the dog for Carly Philpott. At a time when there is so much negativity in the sport, it is great to see how everyone in the game rallies round to help each other when these sad incidents occur.
We also had two more winners from our four selections, when Kinda Easy advised at 5/2, romped home at 7/4, and the brilliant bitch Midway Skipper actually led in the marathon, which meant it was case of race over when the traps opened! I said the 11/8 was big, and that was the case because she returned Evens. We were a little unlucky when Ballymac Rumble, litter brother to Ballymac Ace, led everywhere but the line when defeated by Raving Black. If you took the 4/1 with VC, you could have still made a profit by laying off, as he was sent off at 9/4. I don't normally mention losers, but the reason for doing so is that I feel he will be a major contender if coming down to Romford for next month's Champion Stakes over 575m. The tight track, trip and his early pace make him an ideal candidate in my eyes.
Fair play to sponsors Stan James, who were top price about the favourites in seven of the eight televised races. All other bookmakers please take note!
Be Lucky!
