Best bets for the horse racing Saturday 22nd October
A very quiet week for me this week with just the one bet, Regal Honour, winning on Wednesday. It is a busy day on Saturday with a number of cards as the Turf season draws to a close and the Jumps season begins to kick into gear. It is though the time of year when it pays to play cautiously as the form can't always be trusted and the going can cause all sorts of weird results.
Hamish is odds-on for the G.3 Virgin Bet St Simon Stakes and unbackable as is Pied Piper in the two-mile Master son Holdings Hurdle at Cheltenham. The Group One mile Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes is the race of the day at Doncaster. Aidan O’Brien has admitted to being concerned about the ground at Doncaster ahead of Derby favourite Auguste Rodin running in this though his Leopardstown G.2 win was on soft. Epictetus looked a decent type on debut and was second to Silver Knott in the G.3 Autumn Stakes two weeks ago but both run were on good ground. Holloway Boy has run well each time we have seen him but the going is very much an unknown for him as well. I have actually decided to leave the race alone.
My two bets for Saturday follow.
Editeur du Gite and Clear The Runway are two nice types but both like to front-run and I wonder if they might set this up for one of the others. Dad's Lad is the one that can benefit from the pair cutting each others throats. He had a recent pipe-opener over hurdles when fifth at Listowel last time but Chasing looks to be his game with two wins from three starts over the bigger obstacles. I would expect to see the Willie Mullins trained seven-year-old tracking the leading pair before proving too strong up the hill. I am on at 5-1 early.
Be lucky
Hamish is odds-on for the G.3 Virgin Bet St Simon Stakes and unbackable as is Pied Piper in the two-mile Master son Holdings Hurdle at Cheltenham. The Group One mile Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes is the race of the day at Doncaster. Aidan O’Brien has admitted to being concerned about the ground at Doncaster ahead of Derby favourite Auguste Rodin running in this though his Leopardstown G.2 win was on soft. Epictetus looked a decent type on debut and was second to Silver Knott in the G.3 Autumn Stakes two weeks ago but both run were on good ground. Holloway Boy has run well each time we have seen him but the going is very much an unknown for him as well. I have actually decided to leave the race alone.
My two bets for Saturday follow.
Best bets for the horse racing at Newbury
It's soft at Newbury and they face 7f at 1.50 for the Group Three Virgin Bet Horris Hill Stakes. Charlie Appleby sends soft ground Sandown winner Striking Star for this and and the chestnut colt should be backed at the 9-4 this morning. I backed him in Esher saying at the time a son of Dubawi and the first foal out of Lucida the chestnut colt has a lot to like about him on paper. The sire needs little introduction and the dam was a G.2 winner in her racing days for Godolphin whilst trained by Jim Bolger in Ireland, she is by Champion two-year-old and French Guineas and Derby winner Shamardal. The family have produced a number of winners, several 100+ rated, with a mile to a mile-and-a-quarter their optimum distance as they mature.Best bets for the horse racing at Cheltenham
I am having a go over the sticks in the two-mile 888Sport Handicap Chase at 3.15.Editeur du Gite and Clear The Runway are two nice types but both like to front-run and I wonder if they might set this up for one of the others. Dad's Lad is the one that can benefit from the pair cutting each others throats. He had a recent pipe-opener over hurdles when fifth at Listowel last time but Chasing looks to be his game with two wins from three starts over the bigger obstacles. I would expect to see the Willie Mullins trained seven-year-old tracking the leading pair before proving too strong up the hill. I am on at 5-1 early.
Be lucky