Tuesday 16th June

2009 Challenge Fund (£12970)
Current stake - £120

Ascot.

2:30 – Gladitorius needs to be opposed really – until he shows his worth on turf. The milers are generally pretty poor, and at the prices I'd rather give Main Aim a chance to step up – my biggest fear isn't class or distance but whether he's a rest-pattern horse.

3:05 – Prefer the foreigners to Amour Propre to be honest. If there's a dark horse lurking it may be Spin Cycle and I'll play small each way.

3:45 – Delegator's stamina will be tested with pacemakers in here, Mastercraftsman is solid enough, but has to be opposed at the prices in these different conditions. Evasive appeals – hope he's ridden with a bit of sense though. Intense Focus worth a small saver.

4:20 – Incredibly open. I'll do a small dutch on Marsh Warbler and Treadwell (both green when winning impressively on debuts) and Alrasm (M Jarvis 2 yr old at Ascot – eyecatching, and broke track record last time out).

4:55 – Jumpers for me here – dutching Sesenta, Clopf and Fire and Rain maybe.

5:30 – Again, incredibly open 2 year old race. Little Scotland had a hopeless draw in the Hilary Needler and may be better than that. I'll chance it each way.

Something like:
Main Aim £120 at 9/2+
Evasive £120 at 5/1+
Spin Cycle £30ew at 40/1
£60 dutch Marsh Warbler/Treadwell/Alrasm
£60 dutch Sesenta/Clopf/Fire and Rain
£30 ew Little Scotland
£20 double Main Aim/Evasive
£10 trebles those two bankers with – Spin Cycle/Marsh Warbler/Fire and Rain/Little Scotland
Placepot




Barking Bets (Banked £1375/Current fund £1215)

Oh dear. The time has come to close this fund. Overall it's made £580 profit, and I'm in danger of losing that pretty quickly if I keep chasing. It's been an interesting experiment though, and I intend to keep up with the barking bets, but amalgamated into the main fund above – where 1% bets won't make me rich, but will keep fund ticking over. At that level I should also find myself freed up to play more.