Bet of the day: Monday’s Racing

Keeping faith with the all-weather

Racing punters already have a reduced service ahead to start the week, which is a bit of a disappointment. But hey – it’s winter, it’s wet and cold. What are we going to do? Well, my plan is stick to the all-weather racing that was so good to us last week, with plenty of winners in the bag.

Today’s interest goes in the eight-race card at Wolverhampton, with a reliable day of action getting underway at 2.20pm sharp. The going is standard – as you may have guessed – and that is just what we like to hear, a track that pays no interest to the weather forecast.

Beat the Monday blues

The NAP of the day for me lines up in the 3.20pm maiden stakes, a short, sharp, shock over the five-furlong sprint distance. Of the 11 expected to contest, Blue Bahia will take all the beating home. Trainer Mark Johnston’s three-year-old filly has been nearing a debut win of late, and followed up a third-place effort at Lingfield in December with a runner-up spot around here last month, over this trip.

She found only race favourite Garam too good on that occasion, beaten a length, but was seen battling on gamely before being caught and passed in the final-furlong when making a push for home. She’s also been mixing it in much better company than opposes today, and that experience will pay-off against a modest-looking field.

If the race goes the way I expect it to, Blue Bahia, who arrives fit as a fiddle, will hit the front early on and look to drag the others out of their comfort zone from the start. I don’t see any of this lot being good enough to turn her over either.