Timeform / 04 February 2010 Free Bet

"At Lingfield on Wednesday it was noticeable that the place to be when coming down the home straight was the middle of the track from just off the pace or even held up. There was a period in the middle of January when horses were winning from the front but this seems to have come to a grinding halt."

Welcome to a new service looking back at some of the in-running stories from the past week that have caught my attention and pinpointing a number of horses that we can look to trade on in the future. I will be marking up the majority of these horses first on the Racing Forum show on Timeform Radio, directly after the last race on a Monday, but there will be some interesting additions exclusively appearing here.

The most interesting story of the week happened on Wednesday, in the last at Exeter. The 'Enjoy Exeter Races On Valentines Day Novices Hurdle' (am I the only one who would get the cold shoulder if I took my girlfriend to the races on Valentines Day?!) had two respected runners in the form of Diamond Brook and Court In Motion.

Diamond Brook didn't appear to be enjoying the heavy ground, whereas the well supported Court In Motion seemed to relish it. Emma Lavelle had been bullish beforehand about the five year old's future and the confidence seemed confirmed as he went to the last fence ten lengths clear. He had been a bit novicey at the previous two fences but the market was certainly not expecting what happened next. He cleared the last fence but then one pace later he stumbled and went down. He had traded at [1.02] for over £4,000 and an awful lot more at prices just above. This gelding obviously has a future but for the moment it may pay to attempt to lay out any stake in-running at low prices.

Anyone who plays in-running must also look for track biases that can help their cause. The two that have caught my attention this week has been on the all-weather tracks at Wolverhampton and Lingfield.

Wolverhampton's last two meetings on the January 29 and the February 1 seemed to hand a distinct advantage to those horses running on or around the pace. In fact, out of 14 races between 5f and the extended 9f trips six races were won by the front runner and an additional four were won by prominent horses running directly behind the pace. Only one horse out of those 14 races came from a hold up position so look for pace horses at tonight and tomorrow night's twilight meetings.

At Lingfield on Wednesday it was noticeable that the place to be when coming down the home straight was the middle of the track from just off the pace or even held up. There was a period in the middle of January when horses were winning from the front but this seems to have come to a grinding halt. And travelling up the far side of the home straight seems to be a disadvantage, whereas coming down the middle or even stand side was a positive. The next meeting at Lingfield is on Friday.