Grenade Could Explode Into Life At Hamilton

Yesterday's selection Desert Apostle ran respectably enough to finish sixth, but to be honest when I checked her odds at lunchtime and saw 50s and 66s available I feared the worst. Hopefully today's selection, which comes from the lucky last at Hamilton Park, can make amends.
Grenade, trained by Pat Holmes, is a well bred son of Paco Boy who was trained as a 2yo by Richard Hannon. He is a half brother to the useful Forgive, as well as being related to multiple winners Right Touch and Lokis Revenge. This lad has yet to get his head in front, but he did run a few decent races in maidens at 6F and 7F last year. He shaped as if a drop in trip would suit on more than one occasion,  and was allocated an initial handicap mark of 72. He ran an extremely disappointing race on his handicap debut last October at Newbury on soft ground (6F), and was subsequently sold out of the Hannon yard for 9,000 Guineas.
He started off his 3yo campaign with Pat Holmes over 6F at Ripon and ran a respectable race at odds of 50/1 to finish 4th of 9 off a mark of 65. He was finally dropped in trip on his next run, and though the record books show that he finished down the field in 7th, there was more to that run than first meets the eye. He was waited with, and his jockey tried to go for the brave man's route up the inner, where he got completely chopped off when just starting to get into the race. Now I'm not suggesting he would have won, but he certainly would have finished closer with a clear run, and that effort came off a mark of 63.
His next run saw him stepped back up to 6F, and he admittedly ran a stinker trailing in at the rear of the field. It was on good to firm ground though, and all his best runs have come on good or softer, conditions he will get today. Last time out  he returned to some sort of form over this course and distance, keeping on well down the centre of the track to take 5th, beaten less than three lengths.
He races off a further reduced mark today, the handicapper deciding to drop him another 2lbs down to a lowly mark of 55. With regular partner Neil Farley also taking off another useful 3lbs, Grenade has certainly been given a chance at the weights.
His trainer's record at Hamilton over the last five seasons is rather impressive too, with six winners from only twenty two runners, for a tasty level stakes profit to a £1 stake of  £23.50. The combination of his trainer's strike rate and the clear promise this horse has shown on his couple of runs over the minimum trip are enough to spark my interest today, and at odds of 16/1 he could well run a big race from a decent draw in Stall 2.

Selection: 5.15 Hamilton-Grenade (each way) 16/1.