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Top Rated Today

Sly Man's Top Rated — Friday 28 August 2026

Every rating, pick and market move that matters, in one read.

Sly Man’s Briefing · 2026-08-28

Today’s Top Rated

53 races 534 runners scanned
Sly Man Staff analyst
Signals converging

The FoldThe FoldWhere two or more of Saturday Racing’s primary analytical signals converge on the same horse. The higher the count, the stronger the signal.

1 horse appears in two of today’s primary signals.

Editorial

Sly Man’s Take

Three minutes with the day.

1 horse in the Fold today.

The Fold lands on Wootz at 14:48 Thirsk, where an SR of 156 and cross-system consensus — both the Balanced AI lens and Mr Fox's pick — converge to make this the clearest signal of the morning across 53 races; at 1/6 in the market, the punters have already arrived and the rating backs them up, though at that price you are buying certainty in the form rather than value in the odds. Innichen at 14:25 Sandown catches the eye as a secondary play — two systems agree, and a class drop of two levels (Class 2 to Class 4) on Roger Varian's yard, currently firing at 35.3% over 14 days, is a combination that rarely goes quietly. Over at Goodwood, Grandlad's move tells the wrong story — steaming out from 6/1 to 11/1 in the 18:20, the market is clearly siding against the stable's confidence, and that drift warrants a swerve until the ring gives a better explanation. Motown Filly tops the SR table at 158 in the 16:35 Goodwood, but with no secondary signal confirming and no market move on record, treat that number as a flag for the watchlist rather than a prompt for the bet slip — on a 53-race card, isolated figures can flatter.
The scan

Top Signals TodayTop SignalsThe highest-conviction hit from each race today, one row per race. Filters the whole card down to what’s actually worth watching.

The highest-conviction hits, one per race.

14:48 Thirsk Lead signal

Wootz

Strong contender

  • SR 156
  • AI
14:25 Sandown #3

Innichen

AI corroborated

  • AI
16:35 Goodwood #4

Motown Filly

Highest SR (watch)

  • SR 158
16:25 Sedgefield #5

Datstheholyallofit

Highest SR (watch)

  • SR 157
14:00 Ffos Las #6

Red Walls

Steaming

  • 66/1→28/1
16:45 Sandown #7

Post Rider

Steaming

  • 12/1→18/1
18:20 Goodwood #8

Grandlad

Steaming

  • 6/1→11/1
17:00 Sedgefield #9

Scopic

Market cooling

  • 9/1→28/1
17:15 Fontwell #10

North Account

Market cooling

  • 20/1→66/1
By the numbers

The Ratings

Top three horses by each rating system today.

SR Speed Rating SR — Speed RatingA numeric performance score based on race times. Higher is faster — typically 100+ is strong, 140+ is Group-race calibre.
  1. Motown Filly

    16:35 Goodwood 4/5
    158
  2. Datstheholyallofit

    16:25 Sedgefield 11/10
    157
  3. Wootz

    14:48 Thirsk 1/6
    156
TS Topspeed TS — TopspeedAn independent speed figure benchmark. Read alongside SR for a second opinion on raw pace.
  1. Palmar Bay

    16:38 Thirsk 14/1
    96
  2. He's A Monster

    16:38 Thirsk 25/1
    95
  3. Galyx

    17:20 Sandown 3/1
    95
Cross-system agreement

Systems ConsensusSystems ConsensusWhen multiple independent Saturday Racing engines (AI models, Sly Man, Mr Fox, market read) land on the same horse. Cross-system agreement is unusual and worth taking seriously.

The horses Saturday Racing's independent analytical engines all landed on. When four systems built on different signals agree, the market usually catches up quickly.

  • 2 SYSTEMS
    AGREE
    14:00 Ffos Las
    • BALANCED LENS (AI CONSENSUS)
    • MR FOX (PICK_WINNER)
    5th Finished 5th
    Verify
  • 2 SYSTEMS
    AGREE

    Innichen

    15/8
    14:25 Sandown
    • BALANCED LENS (AI CONSENSUS)
    • MR FOX (PICK_WINNER)
    🥉 3rd Placed third
    Verify
  • 2 SYSTEMS
    AGREE

    Wootz

    1/6
    14:48 Thirsk
    • BALANCED LENS (AI CONSENSUS)
    • MR FOX (PICK_WINNER)
    Race at 14:48 14:48 Thirsk
    Verify
Market moves

The MoneyThe MoneyThe board’s view of the race — which horses the market is backing, which it’s abandoning, and by how much.

What the boards are telling us.

Steamers — sharp money coming inSteamerA horse whose odds have shortened significantly as the market backs it. Sharp money coming in.

  • Grandlad

    18:20 Goodwood
    6/1 11/1 71%
    SHARP MONEY
    9th Out of the frame
    Verify
  • Red Walls

    14:00 Ffos Las
    66/1 28/1 57%
    SHARP MONEY
    Race at 14:00 14:00 Ffos Las
    Verify
  • Post Rider

    16:45 Sandown
    12/1 18/1 46%
    SHARP MONEY
    🥉 3rd Placed third
    Verify

Drifters — sanity checkDrifterA horse whose odds have lengthened as the market cools on it. Sanity-check signal — sometimes right, sometimes wrong.

  • North Account

    17:15 Fontwell
    20/1 66/1 219%
    MARKET COOLING
    6th Finished 6th
  • Edgewell

    17:50 Fontwell
    11/2 18/1 192%
    MARKET COOLING
    🥉 3rd Placed third
  • Scopic

    17:00 Sedgefield
    9/1 28/1 190%
    MARKET COOLING
    10th Out of the frame
Contextual edges

The Angles

The situational reads.

Trainer hot streak

14 days
  1. Ben Pauling 37.5% (3/8) · 1 today
  2. Warren Greatrex 37.5% (3/8) · 1 today
  3. Roger Varian 35.3% (6/17) · 4 today
  4. Grace Harris 33.3% (5/15) · 3 today
  5. Daragh Bourke 33.3% (2/6) · 1 today

Jockey upgrade

New pilot
  1. Return With Gold 17:00 Sedgefield Brian Hughes (33.3%) up from Harry Russell (0.0%)
    17/2 9th
  2. Mobile Mamma 18:25 Fontwell Harry Skelton (27.6%) up from Sam Ewing (0.0%)
    5/1 🥉 3rd
  3. Algaihabane 15:35 Sandown William Buick (22.6%) up from Benoit de la Sayette (0.0%)
    2/1 🏆 WON
  4. Pebble Dash 15:45 Ffos Las David Probert (21.3%) up from Barry McHugh (0.0%)
    17/2 8th
  5. Kiss And Run 18:20 Goodwood David Egan (28.1%) up from Mason Paetel(3) (6.7%)
    12/1 🥉 3rd

Class dropper

-1 class
  1. Aggagio 19:33 Fontwell Class 2 → Class 5 (drop 3)
    9/2 4th
  2. Innichen 14:25 Sandown Class 2 → Class 4 (drop 2)
    15/8 🥉 3rd
  3. Arabica Queen 14:25 Sandown Class 2 → Class 4 (drop 2)
    5/1 5th
  4. Holi Scarlett 14:25 Sandown Class 2 → Class 4 (drop 2)
    22/1 6th
  5. Special Operations 15:25 Thirsk Class 2 → Class 4 (drop 2)
    25/1 Race at 15:25