Tiley to finish with a flurry
NIGEL Tiley, intent on ending the season with a barrage of winners and keeping a job here next year, can send punters home happy from the Valley tonight by taking the final event on smart Octagon Star.
The Irish-bred four-year-old came back after a lengthy break with a fighting second to runaway winner Dashing on March 7 and is ideally placed to show the requisite improvement from that run and win this Classes One and Two longer sprint.
Octagon Star simply hacked up at the Valley earlier this season over this trip, being eased down to record a three and a half length win over Winfield in Class Three. That bare form means little but it was the absolute ease of Octagon Star's win - plus his good effort last time - that makes him undoubtedly the one to beat in this 10-runner event.
Octagon Star's efforts behind Dashing confirmed what most observers believed: he is very much up to Class Two standard. With only one Class One horse in the field, topweight Aeras, Octagon Star comes into this most advantageously.
The conditions of the combined event mean that he comes down five pounds even though Aeras would not, on paper, be more than a modest threat. Weaker divisions of these combined events can lead to some astute plundering - and Octagon Star looks almost a shoe-in here.
However, the all-pervasive presence of Tony Cruz on useful Namjong Again might even mean the selection starts second favourite although he has the form firmly on the board - unlike maiden Namjong Again.
However, the Peter Ng Bik-kuen galloper ran a fine race last time to finish second to Fortune Basin at Sha Tin and must be respected as a very strong quinella chance.
Frankly, the only other real chance in the race seems to be the Lawrie Fownes-trained Super Structure, involved in the highly controversial scrimmage that saw luckless Declan Murphy pick up an eventual three-day suspension.
Super Structure eventually finished third in that roughly-run race and he should be better off stepped up to the longer Valley sprint from the minimum trip.
