Tony Calvin: Even Song the hot Irish Oaks bet but value is long gone

It's like "racing" went on an all-guns-blazing stag-do last weekend and is staying in and having a detox in a darkened room this Saturday.

Certainly, this is one of the more low-key weekends when it comes to ante-post betting, but at least we have a Classic, albeit one that has a look of a good thing.

The Irish Oaks has failed to capture the imagination of the exchange punters as yet but it will pick up now we have a better idea of running plans after today's four-day declarations and supplementary stage.

But as regular readers and viewers of Racing UK's Betting Lab will know - I have been banging on about it on the channel for over a month now - the fixed-odds boys have consistently called this market wrong ever since Even Song was surprisingly pulled out of the Oaks at the overnight stage.

I say surprisingly because she was trading as the 6-1 second favourite to her stablemate Minding at Epsom, and nobody saw her late, late defection coming on that Thursday morning.

It soon became apparent that they were saving Even Song for the Ribblesdale ay Royal Ascot, but even then she was still available at 12-1 for the Curragh classic, for which Minding was the 2-5 favourite.

However, the two Ballydoyle fillies were never going to face each other given their extensive summer options, with Minding taking in the Pretty Polly on her next start en route to the Nassau at Goodwood at the end of the month.

And even after Even Song had won the Ribblesdale, with some ease, all firms betting on the Irish Oaks still had her at 6s and 5s - sixes and sevens would have been more apt - despite Aidan O'Brien confirming immediately after the Ascot win that the Curragh was the plan. It was mystifying.

It took another three days after the Ribblesdale win for the bookmakers to finally cotton on, cutting her to a top-priced 13-8, and she is now best at 1-2.

Ante-post betting is not a vibrant medium these days in the age of enhanced day-of-race place terms and competition for the Saturday morning pound, but there can occasionally be gold in them there hills. This was one such rare occasion.

So will she win? In all probability, yes,.

It is hard to see the likes of the Ribblesdale vanquished We Are Ninety and Architecture turning the tables - I would have been far more interested in the Ascot fourth Queen's Trust had she been supplemented - but she is hardly an attractive betting proposition at around 1.68/13.

Granted, it is hard to make a convincing case for any of the opposition. But while the manner of her Ascot win from the supplemented Ajman Princess was very smooth it was hardly a top-class performance on form, or on the clock given it was steadily-run, though she is extremely well-regarded by the stable.

Nearly 80 entries make Super Sprint a tough call

The main ante-post betting race of the week possibly ought to be the Weatherbys Super Sprint - if there is a main betting heat, that is - but the small matter of 76 entries makes life troublesome for this column, and punters in general. And fixed-odds bookmakers it seems, none of whom have priced up the race, and you can hardly blame them.

The likes of Queen Mary third and fifth, Clem Fandango and Simmie, are obvious candidates, as are impressive soft-ground Windsor winner Mrs Danvers and the 9,000gn yearling purchase and Newmarket winner Spiritual Lady, but it is easy to give the race a swerve for now.

The exchange also has markets up on the Steventon Stakes and Hackwood Stakes at Newbury. They are illiquid markets at the moment, but Scottishand The Tin Man are the respective favourites in those races.

Gwafa and Kapstadt of interest at Market Rasen

The ante-post jumps action is back before we ever noticed it even went, with Market Rasen's Summer Plate and Summer Hurdle now up on the exchange, if not priced up elsewhere in the industry, perhaps unsurprisingly so.

There are 21 entries for the Summer Hurdle, and a fair few come into this race on a roll, not least top weight Gwafa.

He missed a tempting handicap engagement on the Flat recently because of the soft ground, but he has won on that going over hurdles and I suspect that the 7lb that he went up for winning the Swinton at Haydock in May is not the end of his winning run in this sphere.

But it is easy to resist a bet at this stage until we know the opposition and the ground - there are a few weather warnings doing the rounds this week - and indeed his likely participation. His stable won this race in 2010 with Australia Day, who made all by the none too small matter of 19 lengths.

Kapstadt is also very interesting. He is versatile as regards ground and I don't think that we saw him to best effect when held up at Stratford on Sunday, albeit he was never really travelling as well as he can do there.

He had earlier made all to win a five-runner Nottingham handicap on the Flat by seven lengths (he is now rated 87) and, ridden closer to the pace, I think he could make his presence felt off a mark of 125 here. And a quick turnaround is no problem for him, as his Nottingham win last month came just four days after his previous run. More of this race later in the week, though.

There are 24 entries in the Plate and Long House Hall up in trip after a good fourth over 2m4f at Uttoxeter last time immediately caught the eye, but we will revisit this race on Friday as well.

And finally, my thoughts on the longer-term markets

Looking longer-term, the odds-against quotes about Postponed in the King George at Ascot on July 23 have long since disappeared and a measure of what an easy task he faces comes in the shape of the reluctant-looking Hardwicke Stakes runner-up Highland Reel trading as the 10.519/2 second favourite.

A bigger danger could come from Erupt at 16.015/1 if he takes his chance - Eclipse winner Hawkbill could be supplemented, too - as the Arc fifth came back to something approaching that form when second in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud earlier in the month.

But this looks Postponed's for the taking and Betfair Sportsbook's 4-6 about him is probably a fair price. You may get that on the day, though, and no worries about losing your money if he doesn't turn up for any reason.

Further ahead, Big Orange trades around the 5-1 mark for the Goodwood Cup after his Newmarket win and Irish Oaks absentee Minding is around a 4-6 chance on the exchange for the Nassau.

With Limato banging his head at home after his July Cup success and being effectively ruled out of the Sussex Stakes it is currently 2.8615/8 Galileo Gold versus 3.613/5 The Gurkha at Goodwood.

More of that fascinating match-up nearer the time.