Horseracing Tips / Graham Cunningham / 30 October 2009 / Leave a comment

They say distance lends perspective. Racing UK analyst Graham Cunningham is in California awaiting next week's European invasion for the Breeders' Cup but pining for home briefly this weekend for a clutch of good races at Wetherby and Newmarket

"Pettifour put up a fine performance to win this contest 12 months ago and signed off by chasing home the high-class Fiveforthree in Grade 1 company at the Punchestown Festival. Nigel Twiston-Davies is bound to have him well primed for his reappearance and these conditions look ideal for Pettifour to go very close indeed."

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Manor Park and Pettifour the picks on Wetherby's big day

Greetings from Santa Monica, California. The weather is stunning, the news is dominated by the World Series baseball clash between the Yankees and the Phillies and, most important of all, the Wi-Fi in the Fairmont Hotel is working a treat.

I don't know about you, but there is still something a little strange about trying to find good bets while scouring the internet from thousands of miles away while sitting in your boxer shorts at seven in the morning.

Still, a winner is a winner however it is unearthed and there are three races in particular I will be involved in this weekend.

The first is the 13:10 at Wetherby and the horse to note is Manor Park. This gelding mixed it with some of the best young hurdlers in Ireland when trained by Jessica Harrington last season and looked as good as ever over this course and distance on his first start for Tim Vaughan recently.

Skylancer is bound to attract support against him after his smooth wins at Sedgefield and Kelso, but along with Ffos Llas winner Palmito he's in deeper this time and Manor Park looks much the safest option.

The way he attacked the last three flights here last time suggests that he really enjoys his job and he fully deserves to be a strong favourite to defy his penalty.

I'm happy to swerve Wetherby's featured Charlie Hall Chase at 14:55, but the John Smith's Hurdle at 15:25 offers a much more attractive betting shape in the form of an intriguing three-cornered battle between Lough Derg, Fair Along and Pettifour.

Fair Along is undeniably well treated at his best. He flopped on the Flat in the Cesarewitch recently, though, while Lough Derg checked out tamely in this race last season and ended the campaign out of sorts.

By contrast, Pettifour put up a fine performance to win this contest 12 months ago and signed off by chasing home the high-class Fiveforthree in Grade 1 company at the Punchestown Festival. Nigel Twiston-Davies is bound to have him well primed for his reappearance and these conditions look ideal for Pettifour to go very close indeed.

Down at Newmarket the race that catches the eye is the James Seymour Stakes at 15:45.

There are two possible angles here - and both involve opposing Saphira's Fire. William Muir's filly has bags of ability, as she showed when coming home strongly in Group 2 company here recently, but to my mind she needs a mile and a half to show her very best and this return to ten furlongs is a worry.

Laying her at around [4.5] is one option, and one that I will probably favour, but for those who prefer trying to find the winner Prince Siegfried and Laaheb are the pair to focus on.

Prince Siegfried is thriving on racing and made some smart horses look very ordinary at Ayr last month. He looks by far the most likely winner, but Laaheb is progressing fast after cruising home clear off an official mark of 94 at Pontefract and he looks definite saver material at [4.5] or bigger.

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Finally this week, a few more random thoughts on next week's Breeders' Cup

1 - Rip Van Winkle still looks skinny at a shade over [3.0] for the Classic. Zenyatta looks highly likely to start favourite on course next Saturday and laying "The Ripper" now with a view to backing him at longer odds come the day offers definite mileage.

2 - The Turf offers a great each-way shape given that most bookies go a quarter the odds 1-2-3 in a race which is cutting up noticeably. Conduit is still hot favourite but stablemate Spanish Moon will be very hard to keep out of the money.

3 - Zenyatta's likely absence means Friday's Ladies' Classic is another race with solid each way appeal. Ex-French filly Proviso is coming in under the radar, but she looked very good before the stewards intervened on her debut for Bobby Frankel and is definitely overpriced at [8.0].

Tags: Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup Classic, Charlie Hall Chase, James Seymour Stakes, John Smith's Hurdle, Laaheb, Manor Park, Newmarket, Pettifour, Proviso, Rip Van Winkle, Saphira's Fire, Wetherby, Zenyatta