Today's best bets, by Greg Wood
As a proud son of Hove Actually - Ryan Moore went to my school, in fact, though admittedly I was long gone by the time he did - I have an affection for Brighton racecourse that, I suspect, not many of the country's punters would share. Even the trainer of one of the winners at last week's meeting there suggested that it is a "dog track", yet personally I would be as happy spending an afternoon on the top of Race Hill as I would at Cheltenham or Goodwood.
Today's meeting, though, may test even my lifelong devotion to snapping point, as try as I might, I cannot seem to find much of an angle in the card. Rocky's Pride would look like an obvious lay in the 3.00 were it not for Jeremy Noseda's outstanding form, both at the track and over the last few weeks, while CD winner Orpen's Art (5.30) is a fair price with Ryan Moore up, but overall there is not much here to recommend with confidence.
There is a Brighton connection elsewhere though, as Hypnotic (Thirsk 8.30), who won at the track last week for the excellent Sussex trainer Jim Best, is now heading all the way to Yorkshire in an attempt to defy a penalty.
Hypnotic led all the way under Paul Doe last week, and he currently has a perfect 4-4 record for Best. It should be 5-5 by tonight, as Hypnotic was rated close to 100 in the early part of his career, which gives Best plenty of leeway off a mark of 61.
Elsewhere, there are a couple of course and distance specialists that catch the eye as possible place bets. Ingleby Princes (Hamilton 5.15) has been placed on six of seven starts over CD, and even at odds-on for a place, she has to be backed to make the frame again, while Malcheek (7.30) is similarly reliable at Thirsk and should make the first three, and at slightly better odds too.
Tipping competition, day two
A truly astonishing day's tipping from our competitors yesterday, proving that the shrewdest people read Talking Horses. If you'd had £1 on every single tip posted, you'd have made £87.50 – more, in fact, since we deduct points for non-runners, whereas the bookies have to give the money back.
No fewer than 16 of you had 15-2 winner Sioux Rising at Pontefract, while three had last night's 16-1 winner Hollow Green at Windsor. Shears39 and Mai11 had both and will take some catching. A special mention must go to kentaylor24, who we believe broke his Talking Horses duck with Hollow Green.
Today, we'd like your tips, please, in these races: 5.15 Hamilton, 5.30 Brighton and 6.30 Thirsk.
This week's prize is a free 16-line bet in the Scoop6, the Tote's Saturday bet, for which there's a very tempting £350,000 in the 'win' pool, as well as a similar amount in the bonus pool.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day. Non-runners count as losers. Regarding any dispute, our decision is final.
New entrants are welcome today, but you must start on -3. Good luck!
Standings after day one
shears39 +22.50
Mai11 +22.50
kentaylor24 +14
Renzofan +11
mike65ie +5.50
socialwanderer +5.50
Hotspur61 +5.50
Blitzwing +5.50
Lordyboy +5.50
progolfer +5.50
gashead1105 +5.50
redlobster91 +5.50
dickthebutcher +5.50
garynic +5.50
jamma66 +5.50
Toptrapper +5.50
Beeftodd +5.50
Davs77 +2.50
15244 +2.50
Harrytheactor +2.50
Rivercity +2.50
Viejo +2.50
willbeckwith +2.50
Moscow08 -3
MrPositive -3
suckzinclee -3
Smidster -3
goofs -3
xwireman -3
fleety3001 -3
slackdad38 -3
BoneyMcCoy -3
LorrainePa -3
chevybase -3
johne5knuckle -3
trevtheviking -3
MillieJ -3
WalthamstowLad -3
JDK1 -3
kevindavies -3
FinsburyPark -3
Kperson -3
melonk -3
ccblu -3
DrKelso -3
TheVic -3
1.50pm Fortune favoured with Winkle ride
Tony Paley reports: Jimmy Fortune has been booked to ride Rip Van Winkle in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday, according to a report on racingpost.com.
Ballydoyle's retained jockey, Johnny Murtagh, is unable to ride Rip Van Winkle having picked up a suspension on Kayf Aramis in the Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot and this is the first time Rip Van Winkle will have been ridden by another jockey.
Meanwhile, Luca Cumani has given his thoughts on the chances of Cima De Triomphe, who is a best-riced 10-1 with VCBet. "He's very well, he did his last bit of work this morning where he went six furlongs in company with two other horses," Cumani told At The Races.
"We are happy, he's in good form and we are going there hopeful of a good run but under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task against horses like Conduit, Sea The Stars and Rip Van Winkle.
"We still have 12 furlongs as an option for him at another time - he is versatile enough to be effective at both - but this will be a tough 10 because there will be plenty of pace in the race.
"He was beaten only six lengths in the Arc which was a creditable run. We were slightly disappointed with his run in the Ganay with how the race worked out but the form has been boosted by Vision D'Etat."
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