Turf horse racing season begins at Doncaster - best bets

I have dealt with the Dubai World Cup meeting on the dedicated page and that is where my attention is mainly on Saturday but there is a couple of bets to be had here at Doncaster on the first day of the Turf season.  

I am a huge fan of the Flat as any regular visitor to the site will know and I love the first day of the Turf horse racing season. With two bets in the UK at Doncaster and eight out in Dubai it is a busy afternoon on Saturday so the best are on early - love it!

Best bets for the horse racing at Doncaster  

The 5f SBK Brocklesby Conditions Stakes gets the meeting underway at 1.15 with thirteen unraced two-year-olds lining-up. On breeding Persian Force jumps off the page being by Mehmas, a top-class two-year-old back in 2016, who has been busy making a name for himself as a sire,  second in the leading Sires of 2yos in Europe 2021 table and top of the table for 2nd Crop Sires in Europe 2021! The chestnut colt is no price though and unbackable. 

At 3.00 it is the Listed SBK Doncaster Mile and I am taking a chance on one in this. One I backed a couple of times last season, including the one race he won the G.3 Greenham Stakes over 7f in April, Chindit lines-up here. He ran well in defeat in some big races as a three-year-old but never quite cut the mustard at the very top-level. The fact he won on his racecourse debut at two, and his three-year-old seasonal debut as mentioned in the Greenham suggests he can go well fresh so I am not concerned about this being his first run as a four-year-old. Drop down in class is another obvious plus but that nagging doubt about the trip is obviously there, he has never won over further than seven, and the straight mile here is a decent test. The four-year-old is perhaps unsurprisingly odds-on. Roger Varian clearly thinks a lot of Royal Champion bearing in mind in a three race career he has raced in Listed and Group Two company; getting beaten in the 1m2f G.2 Dante Stakes when last seen behind the likes of Hurricane Lane, Megallan and High Definition last May fading out of contention in the last couple of furlongs is hardly a disgrace. Obviously the four-year-old has had issues but he gets the trip, something you can’t be sure the jolly will, and at 100-30 with Hills on Friday I thought it worth a speculative punt to overturn Chindit.  

At 3.35 it is the big handicap the mile SBK Lincoln. United Front gets in here of 92 and is a massive 13lb well in in theory his mark due to rise to 105 in the future and Theodore Ladd takes off a further 3lb with his claim! Was third in the ‘Lincoln Trial Handicap’ at Wolverhampton on the tapeta last time off a mark of 104; it is noted though that he has never won on turf. It is thirty years since William Haggas trained his first winner of the Lincoln and he is looking to make it a record-breaking fifth win in the race this year with his best hope probably Mujtaba with apprentice Adam Farragher booked to ride. Talking of apprentices young Harry Davies has been handed a dream ride on the Charlie Appleby trained Modern News who is fit from a recent run in Dubai where he finished third in a Listed contest at Meydan last month. Young Harry takes 7lb off which is handy and the form of that Listed race at Meydan in which the gelding was third looks strong as the winner Storm Damage broke the course record whilst winning (done it twice this year) and is a big runner out in Dubai today. I think there may be a little more early pace on the single figure side so breaking from stall 8 is handy and though short enough at 4-1 on Friday for a race such as this I am on.  

Charlie Appleby has a few at Kempton that I have backed before, a couple that have proved costly to follow, and they are all best watched this afternoon I think and I am not backing any of them. The same comments apply to After The Rain at Wolverhampton this evening.  

Be lucky