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Captain's Blog - 18th August 2010

Rip Van Winkle is back! His win yesterday was one of a horse who is peaking towards a massive effort and I would want to be with him wherever he turns up next. Some may argue that he put up a peak performance yesterday and that is as good as he is. I beg to differ and believe that he has still not reached the high standards that he achieved last year. In terms of speed figures he proved last year that he can run fast enough to achieve a figure of 127, he has got nowhere near that figure this year. To put it simply, the Rip can run a lot faster than he did yesterday and he can beat Twice Over and Byword a lot more comfortably than he did yesterday and he will do so before the season draws to a close.

I enjoyed working on the Kempton evening show last night. Dave Nevison joined me and he was in good form. We did not find too many winners but had a lot of fun in failing so miserably. Thanks to all of you who emailed the show, we really do appreciate receiving your mails as they help the show flow along and it is your show as much as ours.

I am a man of leisure today and apart from heading to the gym I am not planning on doing too much. I will watch some of the Racing this afternoon and will also be doing some prep work for Epsom tomorrow night, from where I am Presenting for tomorrow. Andrew Barr will be my guest and I am looking forward to another trip to one of my favourite tracks.

The Racing today at York is excellent and I am very keen on getting involved in the Gimcrack. Temple Meads will be all the rage for the race after his Super Sprint win at Newbury, but the figure he ran there was nothing special and he will have to improve to win this. I would not be keen to lay him, but I think there is a better bet in the race and it has to be Shropshire. He won on his debut at Haydock and in doing so ran a big speed figure of 94. This is a massive figure for a first time out two year old and not only did he run fast he also won very easily. The horse he beat at Haydock has since bolted up by six lengths and I think that Shropshire can move forward again and play a big part in today’s race. He will be my sole selection here today and is a reasonably confident one. Only Ladbrokes are offering 5/1 at the moment and that is good each way value.

Enjoy all of the excellent Racing that has to offer today and take it easy out there.

Today’s Selection

2.50 York – Shropshire (each way 5/1 Ladbrokes )