Wayne Bailey: Here’s hoping Annaf can build on Royal Ascot placing to continue our profitable run

All punters know the feeling of a near miss, an unlucky faller, or your horse going well only to get boxed in and lose.

There are times when nothing seems to go your way in this game – but on rare occasions, you get the opposite, and this column had a cracking bit of luck last week with Calling The Wind winning the Northumberland Plate (14/1) and Kemari winning a Listed race (7/1).

In the case of Calling The Wind, I really thought I’d be reporting another bad-luck story as he appeared to be getting boxed in as he made his run.

But just like Moses parting the Red Sea, mercifully, the gambling gods were looking kindly on me and the gap opened wide. That meant the Richard Hughes-trained gelding ended up getting a lovely clear run under Neil Callan, and took the prize by half a length.

As for Kemari, that was an interesting one as it was a Godolphin-owned ‘second-string’ as far as the market was concerned, with stablemate New London going off at 11/10. We’ve seen it a lot with Aidan O’Brien’s less-fancied runners too, and there’s definitely a second-string betting angle in there somewhere with a little selectivity.

I’d backed Calling The Wind at just under 20/1 on the exchanges, and when you have a win like that, it’s a good idea to hit the ‘withdraw’ button, take the few bob out of the ATM, even if it’s just a small fraction of the money, and buy something nice, in cash, to make it real.

In my case, I treated myself to a couple of bottles of fairly decent wine, but the Sunday morning hangover felt the same as any week nonetheless.

Anyway, a good weekend overall and I was expecting to spend another portion of the money on this afternoon’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown (3.40), a race I normally enjoy – but some recent renewals have been short on runners, and this year is no different with just four horses going to post.

Although I think the St James’s Palace Stakes and Irish Guineas winner Paddington is the one with the best chance, I priced this race up myself and had him down as an 6/4 shot, so I just can’t back Aidan O’Brien’s colt at 11/10 as it’s not what I’d consider good value.

Instead, I’ll sit this one out and enjoy it without a bet, but it will be interesting to see if Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn can make a good race out of it for the Gosden team, or even Dubai Honour should the market leaders fail to fire.

One horse I am happy to back at Sandown is Annaf, which has been chalked up at 9/2 for the Group Three Coral Charge Sprint Stakes (1.50). A five-time winner on the all-weather, Michael Appleby’s colt is yet to win on turf but put in one of his best shifts to date when third in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, with a number of today’s opponents in behind.

At Haydock, we’ve got the 17-runner Bet365 Old Newton Cup Handicap (3.15) to get stuck into, and I’m going to run the risk of looking foolish here by putting up the outsider of the field. Priced 33/1 in the early markets, Graphite is worth a couple of quid each-way off a rating of 90 for trainer TJ Kent.

The Shamardal gelding is getting on a bit aged nine, and we have to go back eight races to find his last success when rated 92 in an Ascot handicap, but his latest race when eighth of 14 in a Kempton handicap is better than it looks on paper as he missed the break and was left playing catch-up. He stayed on well in the end, and as it was his first race in 247 days, he was probably a little rusty.

In the Group Two Lancashire Oaks (2.40 Haydock), Aristia is tipped around 5/1. She also looked rusty on her seasonal debut when last of seven at York, but she finished off last season with a Group One win at Deauville, so is worth another chance.

Another one I like at Haydock is Mark Prescott’s Pledgeofallegiance around 11/2 in the Bet365 Handicap (2.05). The selection is an improving gelding which is aiming for a hat-trick.

At Beverly, Lady Pink Rose is a standout entry at 13/8 in the Weatherbysshop.co.uk EBF Maiden Stakes (2.50). Seventh of 26 in the £65,000 Group Two Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot, she’s surely capable of landing a maiden today worth less than four grand.