Lady Looks Overpriced At Kempton

Total Demolition demolished his chances at the start at the Curragh on Sunday, standing still as the gates opened and losing many lengths on his rivals. He was only beaten a length or so for a place, and I remain convinced he has the ability to win a handicap off his current mark, he just needs to get out of the stalls a bit quicker.

Botti thinks a lot of Raven's Lady

Tomorrow a filly at Kempton has caught my eye, and I think Raven’s Lady could go off a lot shorter than her current odds of 16/1. This 3yo daughter of Raven’s Pass comes here after a luckless run on the turf at Ascot last month off 86 (8f gd/fm) and she would have finished a lot closer than 5th, beaten just over 5L, only for being hampered more than once inside the final couple of furlongs.

Whether she would have won or not is debateable, as her effort did peter out once she did find daylight. I think it makes sense to drop her back to 7f, and the return to the all weather at Kempton has to count as another positive. She has yet to finish outside the top 2 in three runs at the track, and on the form of her maiden win there last September she has to have an excellent chance on Wednesday off a mark of 85.

Raven’s Lady seems to relish it around Kempton and she is definitely a better filly on the all weather than on turf. She has had three runs at Kempton, and a repeat of her seasonal reappearance in a class 2 3yo conditions stakes here (8f) would probably be enough for her to score here off her mark of 85. George Wood, a talented young claimer, takes off a further 5lb and he has been banging in the winners in recent weeks.

He has a stellar record when riding for Marco Botti, and he rode a nice winner for Don Cantillon at Windsor on Monday night. Cantillon’s money was down on Hollywood Road, and it demonstrates that he trusted Wood’s ability in the saddle. Wood has had 22 rides in total for Botti, winning on 4 and achieving top 4 finishes on another 6. Marco Botti and his team have always thought this filly was a pattern level performer, so hopefully she proves him right at Kempton. Odds of 16/1 look too big, and she looks well worth chancing each way on Wednesday night.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 20.10 KEMPTON-RAVEN’S LADY E/W @ 16/1