Ginger Joe - Betting Tips for Thursday 13 June 2024

Three betting tips for Worcester on Thursday evening

I’m back today with three more betting tips for Thursday, but they might not be quite what you were expecting. I took a very careful look through all of the Flat cards, but there wasn’t much there to inspire me, and I was struggling to nail down any selections. What I did find however, was an interesting evening Jumps card over at Worcester, and I think that my selections will do very nicely for us instead.

Reach For The Moon makes a comeback

Away from my picks for a moment, I did spot a very interesting runner in the two-mile Maiden Hurdle at 19:55, where Jamie Snowden runs the five-year-old Reach For The Moon. He had a fantastic campaign as a two-year-old and at one point he was favourite to win the 2022 Derby, with a Flat rating of 114 on his resume. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, as he was plagued by injury problems and at one point it was debatable whether he would ever race again.

However, it seems that Jamie Snowden has taken a huge amount of care with Reach For The Moon since he arrived in his yard (perhaps because of his Royal connections) and he is currently trying a campaign over Hurdles with him. Although his debut run was a little underwhelming, he has plenty of class and he is back for another attempt. It remains to be seen whether he can fulfil his early potential, but I think it’s well worth tuning in to support his run and whatever happens it’s great to see him back on a racetrack.

Next week, as I’m sure you are all fully aware, we have Royal Ascot, but before then there is also some excellent racing coming up on Friday and Saturday, so make absolutely sure that you check back in soon for more betting tips and racing insights.

My bookie pick for Thursday

You can’t do much better than to team up with one of the UK’s top bookmakers, so why not take advantage of this free bet deal from Bet365. If you bet £10, you’ll get £30 in free bets. With a big weekend ahead, and Royal Ascot just around the corner, those freebies are sure to come in handy.

17:50 - Novices’ Handicap Chase 2m 4f - What A Steal

It’s fair to say that my selection for the opener is far from original, but all for the right reasons. Just 12 days ago we saw What A Steal beat Camino Rocio over course and distance. The pair of them look to be well-handicapped again here and both should get very competitive. The Henrietta Knight-trained Camino Rocio travelled quite well, but made a few too many mistakes and was beaten in the final furlong that day. It was his third start of the season and a step in the right direction, but as a son of Milan, my gut feeling says that he needs to go up in trip.

Whereas the Tom George-trained What A Steal is a whole different animal. Last time out he was sent off at 20/1 and won going away, clearly taking a huge step in the right direction. Being a man of few words, when Tom was quizzed about the apparent improvement in his gelding, he simply suggested that the drop back in trip just had suited him better. It certainly looked that way to us as the viewers too! I’m positive that What A Steal is handicapped to go in again, and I fully expect a similar performance from him.

18:20 - Novices’ Handicap Chase 2m ½f - Somespring Special

Next up, we have another Novices’ Handicap Chase, but over the shorter trip and despite having just the four runners, this could still be a really good race. Boombawn will make obvious appeal here for the Skelton team and he is the best horse in the race currently, but he’s giving a fair bit of weight to the rest, and I think he could be vulnerable to another improver.

The one I fancy here is Somespring Special for Anthony Honeyball. She picked up wins at Plumpton and Cheltenham in April before running reasonably well at Bangor last time out. She had excuses that day, as the ground had softened quickly immediately ahead of the racing and she is clearly a sort that appreciates a faster surface. Somespring Special has a nice turn of foot on the fast ground and receives weight all round in this field, which could well play into her hands at the finish.

20:25 - Handicap Hurdle 2m - The Sad Shepherd

My final selection for the Worcester evening card runs in the two-mile Handicap Hurdle. Most of these have been somewhat in and out of form, but I think that I’ve found one that might do the business for us. Meanwhile, Cusano is likely to be popular for the Skelton team, but it’s a big ask for an unexposed four-year-old, who will come up against much more experienced horses here. Jack The Savage might also run better here with the drop back in trip and can’t be discounted either.

However, I’m set on The Sad Shepherd here, who is making his third run for Alastair Ralph. He had some really good form for the Crawfords when he was in training with them over in Ireland and he took a big step forward last time out for new connections. The Sad Shepherd has a speed figure of 100 on fast ground, everything looks just right for him, and given that he manages a decent round of jumping, he has every chance of being right in the mix here too.

Betting tips for Worcester on Thursday

• 17:50 - What A Steal
• 18:20 - Somespring Special
• 20:25 - The Sad Shepherd

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