Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
Goodness me, 9-4 about Working Title (2.25). I was expecting he might be a shade of odds-on for today’s handicap chase at Hereford, where he is trying to defy a penalty for scoring at Sedgefield on Boxing Day.
It so happens that I was talking to his trainer, Sam Drinkwater, just yesterday and detected nothing but confidence. He pointed out that the horse had, in theory, been 50lb well in at Sedgefield, compared to his very best form, and that would mean he’s still more than 40lb well in today.
The obvious caveat would be that his best form was more than six years ago and Working Title is now 15 (15!), the sort of age at which it cannot be assumed he will run well this week, having run well last week. But the old boy has been pretty consistent in point to points for the Drinkwaters in recent years and I think he’s a pretty good risk in the circumstances.
He faces a handful of low-rated rivals and his only competition for the lead is the outsider Free World, who is most unlikely to be able to sustain his challenge. Fieldsofsilk showed some limited promise on his chasing debut but not enough to make him a threat, I feel.
Drinkwater seems like a young trainer worth following and I was interested to hear him say things like: “I ran him 2lb wrong, so he only went up 5lb. It’s his last chance to get in a 0-100 and it’s a very bad race. He’s got 12st 5lb but Joe takes off 7lb and he’s used to carrying 12st 7lb in points, so I can’t see that stopping him. It’s just if there’s an unexposed one lurking ...”
To my eyes, Keeper Hill (2.55) is much the most promising of the three useful types in division one of the novice hurdle and the 3-1 on offer is fair. In the closing handicap hurdle, I’ll give another chance to Bobble Emerald (3.55), who won twice in the early autumn and then kept on really well to be third of 13 at Cheltenham last month. He was the only one of the early pace-setters who finished anywhere near the winner that day and gets to run off the same mark here, against a field that is bigger but probably contains less talent.
Believe It (2.15) appeals at 9-2 at Lingfield, 4lb higher than for his Kempton success last month. He seems to have appreciated being gradually stepped up in trip and I think this sharp 10 furlongs may show him in a still better light.
The nap is Synodic (4.15), who has certainly not been missed by the market, being a 5-2 shot for a 12-runner handicap at Wolves. He had dropped nearly two stone in the ratings before breaking his duck with some authority last time and an extra 6lb may not stop him under one of the better riders in this apprentice race.
