Yarmouth May 2 2yo race review

Yarmouth 1420 Tues May 2
Maiden Stakes
5f42yds, Class 4, 1m1.57s (slow by 1.57s)
Good to Firm

To Wafij. Mar 14, 130k gns yearling. Brother to No Leaf Clover, 2yo winner, peak OR of 99. Away well, contested lead on moderate pace. Pushed along approaching 1f, couple of cracks with the whip and found enough to win. Looks to have decent scope for improvement.

Choice Encounter. Fourth at Nottingham on debut 10 days earlier behind Simmy's Copshop in high-rating race. Led, pushed out at 1f when challenged, couldn't go with winner but didn't give up.

Validator. Apr 11, home-bred. Dam won on debut, peak OR 98. Awkwardly away, soon caught up on slow pace. Switched right at 2f to find space, worked home nicely late without use of whip.

Indian Warrior. Feb 18, 45k gns yearling. Half-brother to six winners. Nicely away, camped right on the pace, but under pressure at 2f and soon outpaced. Battled on OK late.

Contribute. Eighth of nine on debut at Newmarket, but finidhed ahead of Frozen Angel who then won at Ascot. Settled at rear, urged along 2f out, no impression.

City Guest. Mar 27, 38k gns yearling (65k foal). Dam was slow. Missed start, settled at tail, hard riding at halfway, never a chance.

KEY POINTERS
Winner looked OK (after-timing, I know he has since been beaten), but the third horse Validator looked the best prospect for the future, ran home nicely without a lot of effort.

Comments

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

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lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

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Sport is made for betting

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