Thoughts on Shamiana at Wolverhampton

Shamiana runs in the 5.25 at Wolverhampton tomorrow (Thursday March 27th).  Richard Kingscote takes the ride in the mile and half a furlong handicap. Shamiana has been running very consistently finishing third on her last three starts. Once again she looks to be in with a chance and has been doing everything right at home. Her perfect trip is still open to question but having run good races at slightly shorter and longer trips it shouldn’t be an issue. Realistically she needs things to fall right from a wide draw but she shows enough to suggest she can win a race of this nature.

This is a weak contest and consistent performers are thin on the ground. Katmai River is a good starting point as on the whole she is in the mix at this grade and goes well over course and distance. Addikt is not the force of old but still warrants attention, although his wins are generally over further and he appears most suited to racing at Kempton. It is worth baring in mind he has been frequently pulled out using the self certification system. One has to question whether connections are abusing the system. Abuse of this system has been a controversial talking point of late and it would be a shame if those who abuse the system mean it is done away with for the rest of us. Daniel Thomas is getting on in years but is still effective in this grade, particularly at Wolverhampton. Once again he is owned by connections who seem to have a large number of horses withdrawn from races for unusual reasons. It is also worth bearing in mind that Devote Myself has dropped significantly in grade since returning to action a near two year break although has shown little form in these recent starts.