Best bets for the horse racing Saturday 31st August 2018

Another busy Saturday to look forward to with plenty of horse racing to enjoy the length and breadth of this sceptred isle and the Curragh in Ireland.

I will start up in the north-east for the Listed Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes over five furlongs at 2.45. The chestnut filly Elnadim Star has to be considered as an improving 3yo having made her debut here over C&D last year finishing eighth before following up with up two victories over track and trip. She hasn’t run here yet as a 3yo but won the Listed Land O'Burns Fillies' Stakes over five at Ayr last time out in June going clear in the final furlong looking to have something left in the tank. She appears to be very much on the upgrade and with the various weight allowances may just prove better than the opposition here and at 8-1 is worth a punt to do so.

Over the Irish Sea we go to the Emerald Isle and the Curragh where I cannot ignore the chances of Mary Tudor in the Snow Fairy Fillies Stakes over 1m1f at 2.50. No disgrace in finishing third to Sea of Class in the G.1 Irish Oaks last time, best form on show here, she won a Listed heat at Navan over 1m2f earlier this year and looks classy enough for this. With the weight-for-age scale, you can put a line through the older fillies here and she is fancied to win the battle of the 3yo’s with Desert Diamond the obvious danger that I can see. At the time of writing the old satchel swingers had not chalked up so grab the best price you can.

We are back in England and down south for the Group Three Atalanta Stakes at Sandown over the mile for fillies and mares at 3.00. This looks be at the mercy of Dirty Dozen member Veracious and she is duly odds-on at 8-11. She has been in with some of the best this year and has been far from disgraced. Laugh Aloud was progressing nicely last season and won the Group Three Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom when last seen in June of that year but that is a long time off the track and she has to give the 3yo 5lb here.

At 3.15 up in the north-west at Chester they line-up for the 1m6½f Listed Foxy Bingo Fast And Fabulous Chester Stakes and Duretto looks a pretty good thing and is duly short at Evens best. The 6yo has been regularly racing against better than the opposition he faces today and has a good record on the Roodee which is a big bonus – 4 runs here including a win, second in this race in 2016 and third in the 2017 Ormonde Stakes.

And it is back to back down to leafy Esher and Sandown Park at 3.35 as they go over the seven for the Group Three 188Bet Solario Stakes. The John Gosden trained Too Darn Hot is prominent in the betting for next year’s Derby already. As mentioned on here earlier this week he is a full-brother to top fillies So Mi Dar and Lah Ti Dar and was pretty impressive when a seven-length winner on his debut at this track at the beginning of August. Though the rest of the field he beat that day don’t look likely to be world beaters he is hard to ignore at 11-10 after that visually impressive performance. Group Two Vintage Stakes second and third Dunkerron and Confiding might be the dangers. Richard Hannon’s Watan makes a quick return to action having finished second in the G.3 Acomb Stakes at York last week. 

Be lucky