Best bet for the horse racing this weekend

It’s a real mixed bag of horse racing this weekend and there is some decent action to be enjoyed. I am having three bets on Saturday, each at a different meeting, one on the Flat and two over the Jumps.  

Best bet for the horse racing at Lingfield Park

The race of the day at Lingfield is the 1.45 the 7f MansionBet Beaten By A Head Conditions Stakes. The one that jumped off the page at me on Monday was Spycatcher even as a three-year-old having to give the opposition weight here under the race conditions. Eighth in the G.2 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot behind subsequent G.1 performers Creative Force and Naval Crown that form is fair to say the least. He got a little lost and perhaps outpaced in a big 6f handicap at Newmarket in July but was in the Winners Enclosure last time back at Newmarket after a near four-month break. Step back up to seven furlongs, I think, will suit and being open to improvement still he is fancied to get the better of his older rivals. Hopefully he should go on the surface, first try on the Polytrack. I am on at 5-1 overnight which is bigger than I thought I might get. Documenting is a three-time C&D winner, won this race in 2019 and was third last year, so with Ryan Moore booked is an obvious danger but at eight he aint getting any better.  

Best bet for the horse racing at Ascot

At Ascot they host the Grade Two Chanelle Pharma 1965 Chase over 2m5f at 2.05. A favourite of mine in the shape of Defi Du Seuil is running. It all went wrong in the 2020 Queen Mother Champion Chase and truth be told he aint been at his best in the two runs he has had since; pulled-up in the G.2 Shloer Chase in November 2020 and then a disappointing fifth in the G.1 Clarence House Chase in January this year. He has had win surgery it appears over the summer. He was being campaigned at two-and-a-half miles in 2019 as a Novice Chaser so this step back-up in trip holds no fears. Under the race conditions he only has 11-2 to carry and if Philip Hobbs has him back to his best he should win. The yard has been amongst the winners all month and at 7-2 which I took on Thursday afternoon the eight-year-old is worth an investment. G1 Ascot Chase winner Dashel Drasher has an obvious chance, that win was over track and trip and he has three C&D wins to his name, but he has 11-8 to carry and may have preferred it softer under hoof. Lostintranslation aint been right since winning the 2019 Betfair Chase, pulled-up in three of six starts since, and has now had a third wind op. He can’t be backed at the moment as far as I am concerned.  

Best bet for the horse racing at Haydock  

I tipped and backed Bristol De Mai at 100-30 earlier this week for the Grade One Betfair Chase at Haydock due off at 3.00. It should be a cracker with A Plus Tard and Next Destination both feared in a very competitive looking race. I am a fan of Next Destination and very nearly backed him for this, Paul Nicholls saying the other day “We’ve tried to get him to this race very fresh and very fit and he’s ready for his life – he won’t need the run, I can assure you.” Had it been heavier going I may have backed him but it’s good-soft. I know my selection has plenty of form on heavy going but my hope is the front-running grey will show them a clear pair of heels at his favourite track. As big race jockey Daryl Jacob said this week “He’s won plenty of good races on good to soft ground in the past. Even when he beat Native River and Might Bite (in the 2018 renewal) it was good to soft that day. It was a monumental win. Good to soft ground doesn’t bother him. His favourite ground is heavy ground, but good to soft is not a problem.”