Today’s best bet, by Greg Wood
Yanworth’s debut over fences is the undoubted highlight of today’s cards, and while the betting suggests that he will scarcely break sweat on the way to an easy success, the switch from hurdles to fences is never one to be taken for granted. Efficiency outweighs accuracy over a hurdle, whereas over a fence, it is the other way around, and some top-class hurdlers never manage to make the adjustment.
Sternrubin is the only horse in today’s six-runner field at Exeter who promises to give Yanworth any sort of a test, but the 1-4 favourite ran no sort of a race when favourite for last season’s Champion Hurdle, from which he was subsequently disqualified after failing a drugs test.
He recorded the second Grade One win of his career a few weeks later when stepping up to three miles at Aintree, and the fact that Alan King felt the need to apply cheekpieces for a couple of his runs last season also leaves a lingering doubt about Yanworth’s possible reaction to a new way of doing things. Hopefully, he will confirm his status as a leading ante-post contender for next year’s Festival, but at 1-4 today, he is easy to leave alone.
Lalor (2.50), a Grade Two bumper winner at Aintree in the spring, make his debut over hurdles earlier on an excellent card, while Midnight Glory (3.50) will go close in the stayers’ handicap hurdle if she is straight enough to do herself justice first time up. Philip Hobbs’s mare is strong in the betting this morning, which offers encouragement.
The all-weather card at Newcastle is the most valuable of the day by some distance, and includes a fast-track qualifier for the Sprint event on Finals day next year. It Don’t Come Easy (3.10) was an excellent second in a Listed contest at York last time out and should book his place at Lingfield on Good Friday, while Summerghand (4.10) is unexposed on aritificial surfaces and could be one to follow over the winter. Zizum (3.30) was fancied for his nursery debut when he ran well to finish a close second and could be worth a bet at Yarmouth with James Doyle booked to ride.
Tips for all Tuesday’s races
Exeter
2.20 Get Ready Freddy 2.50 Lalor 3.20 Talk Of The South 3.50 Midnight Glory 4.20 Market Road 4.50 Yanworth 5.20 Volcano
Newcastle
1.40 Angel In The Snow 2.10 Burcan 2.40 Qianlong 3.10 It Don’t Come Easy (nap) 3.40 Subhaan 4.10 Summerghand (nb) 4.40 Indian Pursuit 5.10 Canford Bay
Yarmouth
1.30 Orchid Lily 2.00 Hameem 2.30 Falcon’s Vision 3.00 Zizum 3.30 Big Sigh 4.00 Rubis 4.30 Twilight Spirit 5.00 Sentinel
Kempton Park
5.45 Secratario 6.15 Kafeel 6.45 Misty Spirit 7.15 Masked Defender 7.45 Show Stealer 8.15 Harlequin Storm 8.45 Four Kingdoms 9.15 Choral Clan
