The Magnet Cup has long been one of my favourite big handicaps so I've put in a wee bit (make that a big bit) extra effort to look closely at tomorrow's renewal.
I put up Pivoine earlier in the week after a cursory glance and in anticipation of a gamble which hasn't really materialised and backed it up with Baltic Baron at 20/1 as an attempt to steal a wee bit of value once I saw Paul Kealy was also putting it up.
I've since looked much more closely at the race now that I have proper access to the RP site and, while I am not unhappy with those two bets, I plan to have two more. One doesn't qualify for this thread and it will be a hefty one to trump all the others I end up making. I'm just waiting for the best odds guarantees in the morning and maximum place offers.
The other I've taken this evening does qualify for the thread. I'm not too fussed about not getting the BOG as I got it boosted to
56+/1 to six places. That's just too big for its form.
Certain Lad.
I have a couple of reservations, not least the inexperienced jockey but Channon seems to trust him so I only hope he is genuinely value for his 7lbs claim. Earlier this year in Dubai he was a close third in a £100k handicap off 104. Next time he took on Ghaiyyath, for whom he was obviously no match, in an even more valuable G3 but he finished in front of the 115-rated Desert Encounter on only 5lbs better than wfa. On his only run since, he wasn't really asked to be competitive behind Sky Defender at Epsom but met trouble in running near the rail anyway and didn't have a hard race. The high draw is another concern but I don't expect him to be competing for an early lead and if they go fast he might be able to slot into a possie closer to the rail and hope the leaders go too fast and slow up a bit late on. He's more of a 16/1 shot in my opinion but that still means it 1/16 that he won't win