Find out which runners on Thursday caught the eye of the Timeform reporters last time and were awarded the Horse In Focus Flag.
What is a Horse In Focus?
Every performance in Britain and Ireland is closely scrutinised by the expert race readers at Timeform whose tasks include identifying horses that shaped better than the result. Some of these eye-catchers will be awarded the Horse In Focus Flag.
A Horse In Focus comes in many forms, from a promising maiden winner to a veteran handicapper, but the common denominator is the same: the way the horse shaped suggests it’s likely to be something to back next time.
All of the day's Horses In Focus can be found within this article, which also includes a best bet selected by a member of the Timeform Sporting Life team.
The Timeform Flags also appear on the Racecards + section, available for Sporting Life Plus members, on Sporting Life racecards.
Thursday's Horses In Focus
For more on each horse, logged-in readers can head to today's racecards and click the Horse In Focus dropdown.
Chelmsford
Whisky Kisses – 17:05
Newcastle
Coedana – 16:55
Nottingham
Akirra – 14:25
Crowd Quake – 16:35
Salisbury
Poetry of Time – 14:10
Sword Maker – 15:50
Southwell
Shantou Lucky – 14:30
Thursday's Best Bet
SWORD MAKER - 15:50 Salisbury
SWORD MAKER made his debut in a strong Newmarket maiden and was much stronger in the market when opening his account at the second attempt at Redcar in July.
He still looked inexperienced when attempting to follow up under a penalty next time, but was much improved on his nursery debut at Doncaster last month, making a mockery of his opening mark.
Sword Maker was very strong in the betting on that occasion and his performance that day can be marked up further still, given he still didn't look the finished article, veering off a straight line in the closing stages, and also the only runner from the near-side group to finish in the top six. He's potentially smart and is expected to take another step up the ladder now in this more exalted company.
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