Eye-Catchers: Tuesday the 1st of October...

14.10 Ayr: Two Shades Of Grey @ 11/4 Paddy Power - 5pts win

If Two Shades Of Grey gets a clear run tomorrow he should hack up and beat this lot convincingly. Not that I have a reason to be too confident in my selections after poor recent weeks but Two Shades Of Grey appears to be simply too well handicapped to lose here at the sixth time of asking. He was utterly unlucky last time at Hamilton, when he travelled well in rear and jockey Tony Hamilton looked to have loads of horse beneath in the closing stages but it wasn't to be. Two Shades Of Grey was stuck in traffic with no chance to get anywhere through and to make things worse he got badly hampered under 1f out, soon after he switched to right and it was hugely impressive to see this 2yo picking up so strongly as he hid and dropping in class but stepping up in trip, which can only be an advantage on pedigree, I can't see Two Shades Of Grey getting beaten here of his mark off 64. Let's hope confidence is once justified.

15.15 Ayr: Gran Canaria Queen @ 9/2 Paddy Power - 3pts win

Gran Canaria Queen should be shorter after her heroic performance at Ayr in a big Handicap sprint when he was just unlucky to be drawn on the wrong side. She raced on the far side with only a handful of horses, while a huge group had the full advantage on the stands side. Gran Canaria Queen ran a big race nonetheless, she finished almost five lengths clear of the rivals on her side, ears pricked even idling a bit in front as she had nothing to race against, while a race was ongoing on the other side, so that she finished only 4th in the end. She can race off the same mark tomorrow and looks still to be ahead of her mark after she won four times this year already, improving by 19 pounds. She won with a bit in hand at Newcastle at her third last start I felt, and while she was probably found out for class at her penultimate run at Hamilton in a hot class 3 Handicap, her most recent performance at Ayr, back in low grade, showed she is still well in the weighs, at least against the kind of opposition she's encountering in a class 5 handicap.