
A change is as good as a rest, or so I’m told, so today I’ve put together something a little bit different for you. With eight meetings and some highly-competitive racing, but no Group action going down on Saturday, I am going to take on three of the big Handicaps at York and Sandown instead. Just a little caveat first though.
Because we are taking on three big, competitive fields, my advice is to back these selections as an each way Patent for small stakes. On the plus side, If we can land just one winner, then we will be in profit for the day.
Anyway, we may have no Group action this weekend, but we do have Royal Ascot to look forward to next week and I have already put up two ante post selections that are really worth a look. As of Monday, I’ll be focusing solely on Royal Ascot, so keep checking back in, because there will be plenty of betting tips for all five days. But first, let’s land some weekend winners.
With some ultra competitive racing on Saturday, you might want to take advantage of this offer from BetMGM. If you
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The opening race at York is a very competitive Handicap, with the unusual remit that it’s confined to amateur female jockeys only. Star Jasmine is sure to be a favourite with the punters here. She finished runner up on her first two starts, before breaking her maiden at Bath, and the step up in trip last time out, seemed to bring out more improvement in her. Her third place doesn’t give credit to the fact that there was only a short neck between her and the winner, plus that form holds up. She does her best work late on and I think she has to be a leading contender here, but I have concerns about how she’ll cope against the older horses.
The one I’m going for is the Ralph Beckett-trained Lord Melbourne who improved plenty from his Handicap debut to finish just two lengths back off the progressive Bolster at Epsom last time out. For me, that is the strongest form in this field. He seems to be a horse that is finally getting the hang of things and the trip is well within his reach. With stamina assured, I imagine Lord Melbourne will just sit back off the pace and play his cards late. He definitely gets my vote in the opener under the very able Serena Brotherton.
I have a strong selection in the BetMGM Handicap over at Sandown, but there are plenty in here with chances. Flying Frontier is a lovely horse who I followed last year and he has the scope for improvement, but he may need the run after 269 days off the track. Dual Identity is a solid type who has a course and distance win to his credit, and always seems to run his race. However, he is already on a career high mark of 97 and to win here, he would need to find even more. At a bigger price Farasi Lane has a squeak at hitting the place money and he seems to show his best form at Sandown, but he is another that hasn’t been too well treated by the handicapper.
The one I fancy for the win is
Dancing Magic, who was a beaten favourite last time out. However, if he had been given a better ride that day, he would have been a lot closer in my opinion. To my way of thinking, that gives him something to build on and his mark of 95 is very lenient. I will admit that he hasn’t been the most consistent up until now, but he has bags of ability.
He was campaigned at Group 3 level last season, and he didn’t look out of place at all, so with this drop in Class he has the best form on offer here. He ticks all of the right boxes for me anyway..
Next up, we have one for the Sprinters and at the time of writing, there are 20 runners in the field. The current favourite is the lightly-raced New Image for the David O’Meara team, who has three wins from five starts to his credit, and looks likely to continue on an upward curve. He is sure to be well-supported again, but he still needs to prove he can handle an undulating track like York. My gut feeling is that he would prefer a flatter surface, and he could find one or two too good despite his lenient mark. Tim Easterby’s Boardman has been out of form for most of this season, but he did seem to turn a corner at Chester last time out. He also has a course and distance win to his name, so he shouldn’t be underestimated.
Nevertheless, I think the one to side with is Woven, who ran a blinder here last month and his ability to handle York’s undulations has him right at the top of my list. He came in second that day, but Woven was only beaten by just over two lengths by Aleezdancer, which puts him close to his best form. He runs off an unchanged mark of 87 here, and stepping back up to seven furlongs should suit him well. It’s highly likely that this race was his target and at a double figure price, he is a cracking each way bet.
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