Sectional Debrief: Kempton, Thursday August 29

On an otherwise unexceptional evening's racing at Kempton on Thursday, one race stands out as being of particular interest to time and sectional analysts. It is the two-year-old maiden won by Lightning Spear from Alpine Retreat, and it looks a contest to keep a close eye on. 

As the headline figures show, it produced not only a good overall time relative to the horses' abilities but resulted in quite a quick finish. Lightning Spear (last three furlongs of 35.25s), Alpine Retreat (35.3s), Intermedium (35.7s) and Fracking (36.0s) get sectional ratings of 96, 94, 91 and 90 respectively. Of those, Alpine Retreat and Fracking look especially worth taking forward with maidens in mind and are added to the sectional "to follow" list. 

The other overall winning time of note was from Claim The Roses, who took the six-furlong nursery. A decent time, allied with a fairly fast finish (about 34.8s last three furlongs), suggests the winner will be competitive again next time, while the race as a whole looks solid form despite being contested by  only six runners.

In the other nursery, Punk did not run all that efficiently - which impacted his overall time - but quickened in taking style off a steady pace to prevail. Both he and runner-up Salford Secret appear better than the bare result, but it is the latter who looks of most interest with the future in mind. Salford Secret was last turning in (if only about four lengths back) and did well to pass all but one of his rivals. A nursery or an ordinary maiden could well be his, and he is added to the list. 

The other races are of more interest for potential horses to oppose than to follow. The overall times recorded by Top Tug, Red Tulip and Silk Train were disappointing and only slightly excused by the non-optimal paces of those races, while that of Ocean Legend was a bit better but still nothing to get excited about. 

The runner-up to Top Tug, Toast of New York, got things his own way  in front but still came home in a pretty slow 37.15s and is nominated for the "to oppose" list in the belief that he will be overbet next time. 

The performance of the sectional lists since launch in mid-April now stands at: 29 successful bets from 71, for a profit of 11.69 (1 pt risked per bet) and a return on investment of +16.5%. 

Aristocracy and Mick Duggan run for the "to follow" list at Salisbury on Friday evening.

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