Monday horse racing summary

Price discipline saved my neck this afternoon, and meant I came out with a small profit rather than a nasty hole in my account. I proposed three win bets, and scored a winner with Blue Sky Thinking at Wolverhampton to give me 2 points profit overall.

I then focused my attention upon my proposed lay bet, which was Thebes in the 7f handicap at 4 o'clock. Thebes had run twice so far, latterly winning a class 5 maiden. However, this afternoon he was contesting a competitive handicap, and shouldering the penalty of top weight. Here was a horse that had only ever beaten horses who had not won themselves, giving weight to most of his rivals, and also stepping up in trip. Despite being an improving horse, I felt he would be good value if we could get matched to lay below 2.20 (6/5 in fractional odds)

He opened at 5/4 and drifted quite remarkably out to 7/4 but led the other horses a merry dance to win. At the prices he was too rich for me, and I kept my money in my pocket. I'm glad I did, and it goes to show that drifters do still win.