Race Week 3 Preview - Wales & The West optimistic of improved showing at Chepstow

Jamie Osborne hopes Wales & The West can initiate a fightback on home soil as Racing League heads to Chepstow for night three on Thursday, August 7.

The defending champions are on the backfoot after Great Yarmouth and Wolverhampton, with 27 runners across the two fixtures yielding a sole winner and one other top three finish.

Wales & The West sits sixth in the standings on 169 points, while The East leads with 289 having played both of its jokers.

Osborne said: “If the fightback does not begin this week, we will be waving the white flag! I think we have some good shots to fire, although we do not have a full team due to a last-minute hiccup working against us in Race 17, which is annoying.

“I think Beylerbeyi looks to have a leading chance in Race 20 and I would imagine he will go off favourite after winning easily at Newmarket last weekend. Burren Song looks a good backup option in that race as well. I would say this is our strongest race, although I feel we have nice chances all the way through.

“Addison Grey is an interesting runner in Race 15, making his handicap debut for Clive Cox. However, I am not convinced Saffie [Osborne] is on the right one, as I think my horse Thunder Blue has a squeak at what will be an each-way price.

“I think we should go well in Race 19, with Chris Mason’s improving All Ways Glamorous. So Smart is another good option with course form, which does them no harm in these sprints at Chepstow in my opinion.”

London & The South was the only team that failed to register a winner at Wolverhampton, but three second-place finishes helped Matt Chapman’s side end the night in second place on 270 points.

Chapman said: “Traditionally, Yarmouth and Wolverhampton would not be our strongest meetings, so to come away in second place with no jokers played is promising, and I am delighted with the efforts made by my trainers to support the team.

“While struggling team captain Jamie Osborne says the new rules make it easier, actually it is quite the opposite. The new system means you have to be on the ball the moment the entries come out at the five-day stage. There is no excuse for any team not to have a full set of runners, and I include myself in that.

“I would like to say a big thank you to Nicola Currie, who is coming to Chepstow for one ride on Manila Thriller in Race 21. She is doing a low weight of 8st 3lb as well and I appreciate the effort. I hope I can reward her later in the Racing League campaign.

“I would have probably played a joker on Great Acclaim and King’s Lynn in Race 17 but there are only 10 runners. Great Acclaim has been terrific in Racing League over the years and comes in on the back of a win at Goodwood, while King’s Lynn is in the mould of an Andaleep and always runs his race.

“I am delighted Andrew Balding runs Lieber Power, who goes for a repeat win in Race 20. He comes up against a horse called Beset, who is part-owned by Nick Luck and Kevin Blake. I would like to say that I was not totally happy that Nick took it upon himself to ring up my trainers to see if they were running, when he could have just asked me. Clearly, Nick is scared of me!”

The bottom half of the leaderboard is congested, with only 32 points separating Yorkshire in fourth and The North in seventh. The North has enjoyed winners at both meetings so far, including the feature race with Stormy Impact at Wolverhampton.

Team manager Mick Quinn said: “I think Racing League has been very competitive this year and, if it carries on like this, it could be the most exciting season yet with all the teams in with some sort of chance late on in the competition.

“Although we are bottom, we have not played a joker yet and have about 30 points more than we did this time last year, which bodes well as we expect to be stronger later on at Newcastle and Southwell.

“We were really looking forward to our chances in the opener, Race 15, with Juan Les Pins and Northern Spirit, who both ran well in the same race at York last time. I was half thinking of playing a joker, but they have been drawn well away from the favoured stands’ rail, which may just scupper it.

“Race 16 could be good for us as well. We have Lir Speciale, who was just touched off at Yarmouth on his comeback from wind surgery, plus an unknown quantity in Boubyan, who makes his debut for Mick Appleby. Mick has not had him long, but they like what they have seen and he could be nicely weighted with the three-year-old allowance.

“We have had winners at both meetings so far and fingers crossed that continues at Chepstow. The aim for us to stay in touch, with the hope we can come on strongly later in the competition.”

Race and winner graphics from Wolverhampton are available here

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