Muscutt fires a blank and a little Pearl in the last!

Watching Royal Alcor swinging along as they came down the straight at Soutrhwell, while everything else was under the pump shouting at the screen to young Daniel Muscutt to 'Bl**dy ride it' (the language was a little stronger) and the subsequent result summed up yesterday!

Three seconds and a third from 4 selections and it is like we have hit a brick wall since 26^th October. I had to go all the way back to May to find a similar run of results. 

It is probably not coincidental that to all tense and purposes May sees the All Weather cards diminish while November sees a ramp up. Too much water has passed under the bridge since May to recall whether there was a greater degree of competitiveness in the races as I am finding with November and it may be more poignant than the transitioning All Weather calendar that these periods coincide with the transition a horse goes through at these times of the year as the summer coat is shed and a winter coat is grown. I am no expert on the subject but would imagine this process creates hormone imbalances and upsets the normal equilibrium of a horse. I am aware that this change is weather dependent rather than taking place at predefined times of the year.

Although this is far from conclusive, I thought it would be interesting to see how horses that had won at least two races in previous seasons at this time of year have equipped themselves so far this year. Of the handful of qualifiers Forest Edge 1^st 20-1, Dark Lane 1^st 4-1, Space Artist 3^rd 9-1, Outlaw Torn 3^rd 4-1, Peachez Last wouldnt be a bad haul. Whether these results are due to horses or trainers being creatures of habit we will never know!

It is hard to find anything of much value on tonight’s Kempton Park card with races with to many form holes in to get involved or races pointing squarely at short priced favorites until the last. As I am currently the kiss of death, I am sorry to burden Pat Eddery’s runner NEPALESE PEARL  currently trading at 8’s on the exchanges with my selection.

Stepping up to 12 furlongs after showing battling qualities over 10 last time out in a race where four pulled six lengths clear of the remainder, NEPALESE PEARL looked like being swallowed up after making the running but out stayed two of the closers, going down by only ¾ length.

Good luck with your picks and most importantly enjoy your day!