Charlie Appleby hasn’t had the best of seasons by his own exceptional standards. The Newmarket trainer is used to competing for all the Group 1s and that hasn’t been the case. It’s been a different story at the six all-weather tracks however. He has been the all-weather king this season and boasts a combined strike-rate of 44 per cent across all six courses. It could therefore be significant that he sends just one runner to Wolverhampton on Monday, where he has an individual strike-rate of 33 per cent. You can check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Edge Of Blue is the runner in question and he goes in the 5.30 novice event. This two-year-old is a son of Blue Point who got off the mark at the first time of asking at Yarmouth last time. It’s also worth noting that the third has since boosted the form by winning next time out. Already a gelding, he showed a professional attitude to get his head in front late on. There should be further improvement to come and it would be no surprise to see him win again, despite carrying a 7lb penalty.
Appleby has had 29 winners from his 65 runners on the all-weather in Britain this season. A further 24 of his runners finished second or third, meaning 82 per cent of his horses have finished in the first three. This amazing record is accentuated here at Wolverhampton, where nine of his 12 runners have been first or second.
His record is certainly formidable and you wouldn’t want to rule Edge Of Blue out on that evidence. Regardless of that, the horse has already tasted victory and has a cracking chance in his own right. Victory number 30 could well be on the cards here.
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