Wayne Mardle on the World Championships: Back White to produce a Diamond performance

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Diamond League Athletics: Bolt tops bill in medallist-stuffed Lausanne

"52 medallists from the Olympics will be competing in Lausanne, including 19 who won gold, and some races are virtual re-runs of the Olympic finals."

2 points back Kirani James at 1.608/13 in Men’s 400m.

Usain Bolt and Mariya Savinova should win in Lausanne, but their likely odds are nothing to get excited about. There is value to be found with Olympic champion Kirani James, though, and Women's 100m silver-medallist Carmelita Jeter can gain her revenge for Olympic defeat, writes Jack Houghton.

Some might say it's hard to get up for another athletics' meeting so soon after the Olympics, but with Athletissima - the funkily-named latest instalment of the Diamond League - the folks from Lausanne have done their best to put on a show that even the most satiated track and field fan should be able to find motivation for. 52 medallists from the Olympics will be there, including 19 who won gold, and some races are virtual re-runs of the Olympic finals.

And although the last few bets of those Olympics were disastrous from a punting perspective, those who followed the recommendations on betting.betfair would have nonetheless turned a healthy profit across the ten days, and should be ready to consolidate those winnings in Switzerland.

Men's 400m:
In Kirani James, Luguelin Santos and Lalonde Gordon, organisers have reunited all the medallists from London. They will be joined by two other Olympic finalists, in Kevin Borlee and Demetrius Pinder, two semi-finalists, and the promising Jamaican 20-year-old, Rusheen McDonald.

Impressive when running sub-44s to win gold, it's hard to see why James shouldn't confirm form here, especially as he's already demonstrated that he's recovered from the emotional impact of winning an Olympic title as a teenager by winning in Austria earlier in the week. There may be some concern that his post-Olympic schedule is hectic, but, as we pointed out prior to the Olympics, he raced very sparingly earlier in the year, so should be fresh enough in this competitive race.

At the time of writing the markets on the event are fairly illiquid, but I'll be looking to support James at any price over 1.608/13. Kevin Borlee, who seemed to struggle with the three-round format of the Olympics, and who, arguably, ran a better race in his semi-final than he did in the final, is worth a speculative interest in the top three market.

Women's 100m:
As in the Men's 400m, five Olympic finalists line-up for this, including all the medallists, but whether Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce can give both double-barrels to Carmelita Jeter and Veronica Campbell-Brown, who followed her home in London, is less certain. Jeter looked unbalanced during her drive phase in the Olympic final, and I make it little more than a coin-toss as to which of Fraser-Pryce and Jeter will win here. Given that Jeter is likely to be available at around 2.506/4, and she will be the one with most to prove, it is worth siding with the American to enact revenge on her Jamaican rival.

Women's 800m:
The result may well have pained me in the extreme, but whichever way you look at the race - and I've looked at a few dozen replays of it since - Mariya Savinova was imperious in winning Olympic gold, and there is little reason to think she won't be similarly despotic in deciding the outcome of this partial Olympic rematch. Neither Pamela Jelimo or Janeth Jepkosgei showed anything in London that would suggest they can reverse placings with Savinova here, and only a tactical error should prevent the Russian from asserting her dominance.

However, at the likely prices - I expect Savinova to be around the 1.3030/100-mark - there is little value to be had in backing the Olympic champion to win, so the smart call is to watch the race, raucously booing and hissing each of Savinova's strides.

Men's 200m:
From a marketing point-of-view, the highlight of the night will be Usain Bolt's appearance in, and winning of, the Men's 200m, but unless you had your mortgage on Frankel and are looking to roll your returns on to another sure thing, then there is little to attract punters to the race, as Bolt will start at around 1.051/20.

The Diamond League meeting from Lausanne is live on BBC Three on Thursday from 1900hrs (BST).

Recommendations:
2 points back Kirani James at 1.608/13 in Men's 400m.
1 point back Carmelita Jeter at 2.506/4 in Women's 100m.

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Blue Diamond Stakes Review: Samaready for anything now

News / Gary Crispe / 29 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Mick Price's Samaready

"At that level Samaready joins the outstanding juvenile and now champion sire Redoute’s Choice as the second highest Timeform rated winner of the Blue Diamond in the last 25 years."

For the second year running there has been an above average winner of the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield with the unbeaten More Than Ready filly Samaready dominating last Saturday's field.

Last year Australian racing embraced the brilliant colt Sepoy spreadeagling a handy line up of juveniles by over four lengths setting a new peak Timeform rating of 124 for past winners of the Blue Diamond in the last 25 years. Sepoy's winning margin was also the biggest in the same period.

Last Saturday Samaready ran to a Timeform rating of 123p just 1 lb off joining Sepoy as the highest Timeform rated winner of the Group 1 feature in recent times. Nonetheless the winning performance by this filly stands out like a beacon.

The authority of the win over No Looking Back, who bought the strong Magic Millions form line to the race, was a telling part of the assessment. Samaready had the race won on the turn when she ambled up to the leaders under a tight hold from race rider Craig Newitt. The fact she was able to do this considering the fast early sectionals was just one factor in the analysis of this impressive victory.

Once Newitt asked her to extend, Samaready showed a quick turn of foot to put the race beyond issue.

Admittedly No Looking Back covered ground from a wide draw but she did have some cover and seemed to be travelling well enough on the turn to take a hand in the finish. However the winner was in another class. No Looking Back was assessed to run to 113, a pound under her Magic Millions run.

Timefigure analysis for the Blue Diamond Stakes points to a 121 rating while historical race standards analysis suggest a 123+ figure.

At that level Samaready joins the outstanding juvenile and now champion sire Redoute's Choice as the second highest Timeform rated winner of the Blue Diamond in the last 25 years.

No filly has ever run to a Timeform rating of 123 in winning a Blue Diamond. Until last week, the highest rated winning filly was the classy Alinghi who rated 120 in her 2004 victory over the Gai Waterhouse-trained Wager and World Peace.

There is an uncanny similarity between Alinghi and Samaready. Both had their debut run prior to Christmas and then spelled for an Autumn campaign. They both remained unbeaten with their Diamond wins at their third race start and both defeated a Gai Waterhouse-trained filly.

But there is little doubt Samaready is a superior filly which is quite a big statement in itself.

Once again using Alinghi as a yardstick, following her Blue Diamond win, Alinghi then scored effortlessly in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes at Rosehill before going down narrowly in the Golden Slipper Stakes finishing a close third to Dance Hero and Charge Forward with Fastnet Rock close up in fourth place.

That form line would stand up as one of the strongest Slippers in recent time and right now we have a filly rated superior to Alinghi.

Clearly there is a long way to go before Golden Slipper Day and plenty can go wrong with young horses, but there is definitely something special about Samaready.

Get free form, cards & results for Australia at timeform.com/free/

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Timeform Horses in Focus: Arizona Jewel, Glen's Diamond & Night Carnation

Horses in Focus / Timeform / 28 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Henry Cecil: Has a viable Oaks candidate in Arizona Jewel

"Arizona Jewel...looks certain to improve for the run and will presumably take in a trial next time out, with her handler regularly using the Lingfield Oaks Trial and York’s Musidora Stakes to test his fillies’ classic credentials."

Timeform's Phil Thompson brings you three horses worth watching closely in the coming weeks...

First up this week is Arizona Jewel. Trained by the legendary Henry Cecil and from an excellent family - she is closely related to Frankel's dam Kind - Arizona Jewel caught the eye with how well she travelled when third on her debut at two. Given time to strengthen thereafter, she was an impressive winner of a maiden at Sandown on her return as a three-year-old. In control from halfway, she easily accounted for the equally well bred Skip Along by a length and a half and in doing so, went onto plenty of shortlists for the Oaks. She looks certain to improve for the run and will presumably take in a trial next time out, with her handler regularly using the Lingfield Oaks Trial and York's Musidora Stakes to test his fillies' classic credentials. Henry Cecil

Richard Fahey has a lot to look forward to this season and Glen's Diamond is certainly one of his more interesting three-year-old prospects. All three this progressive gelding's wins have only seemed to scratch the surface of his ability and there is definitely more to come from him. After winning his last two starts as a juvenile. Glen's Diamond returned with a victory in a competitive handicap at Musselburgh, winning by a length and a quarter from Calypso Magic, despite still showing signs of greenness and clearly needing a stiffer test of stamina. His handler had warned that he was not fully wound up for his reappearance and even further progression can be expected when he is stepped up to 1½m in the Edinburgh Gold Cup at the same track on Derby Day (June 5). Richard Fahey

Finally, we come to the three-year-old filly Night Carnation. Trained by Andrew Balding, it would be fair to say that she did not set the world alight during her four runs at two, for all that she was promising in winning a maiden and then finishing runner-up in a listed contest at Doncaster on her final two starts. However, she looked a different proposition altogether when impressively landing a handicap off top-weight at Sandown on her reappearance. Dropping back to the minimum distance for the first time, she travelled smoothly and quickened impressively to lead at the furlong pole and quickly put the race to bed, beating Ahtoug by two lengths. In doing so Night Carnation displayed form that entitles her to be competitive at Group 3 level at the least, especially in fillies only company, with five furlongs likely to prove her optimum trip. Andrew Balding

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