10.15am O’Meara weighing up return run for G Force
Tony Paley: In-form trainer David O’Meara will run exciting sprinting talent G Force in either the Duke Of York Stakes or the Temple Stakes on his reappearance run this season.
The Haydock Sprint Cup winner is well but O’Meara is weighing up his options before committing to the four-year-olds’s return.
O’Meara said: “G Force is in good form at home and will be coming out soon. He will be out soon in either the Duke Of York Stakes or the Temple Stakes. I don’t know which one he will go for yet, but I am looking forward to seeing him out again. Hopefully after his first run we can plan another Group One programme for him.”
Mondialiste could be in line for a drop back down to Listed company, with O’Meara weighing up running the five-year-old in the William & Son Paradise Stakes at Ascot on Wednesday following a respectable third behind French Navy in the Group Three Earl Of Sefton Stakes on his most recent run.
O’Meara said: “I think he is a very good horse, but he might want a little bit of cut in the ground. I don’t think he really handled the dip at Newmarket but he stayed on well at the end.
“He can be raced between a mile and a mile and a quarter and there is a Listed race at Ascot next week which he may possibly go for.”
Friday’s best bets, by Chris Cook
For all our talk about Tony McCoy, it strikes me that one detail has so far been missed and it is this: he has, in effect, retired already. He hasn’t had a single ride since Ayr on Saturday. Everyone says how hard life will be for him on Sunday when he wakes up as an ex-jockey but that is the life he has already been living for six days.
McCoy has had opportunities to ride this week, including a couple of Jonjo O’Neill winners at Warwick yesterday that he could have been on (the trainer said so in the winner’s enclosure). But the jockey spoke at the weekend of a desire to ease himself into retirement and he clearly meant it. In this light, there is something of the ‘lap of honour’ to tomorrow’s event at Sandown, especially if McCoy really does restrict himself to a single ride aboard Mr Mole, which seems increasingly possible.
Sandown today is about Flat racing and the card offers another chance to test a familiar theory, that front-runners drawn near the inside rail in mile races there have a distinct advantage when the ground is fast. Bow Creek (2.30) is possibly such a horse and appeals at 9-2 for a competitive Bet365 Mile.
He’s a bit flattered by his success in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood in August, a race in which his chief rival was given too much to do, but the way he took hold of that race from the front has hopefully left a lasting impression on his connections. Of course, he was with Mark Johnston at the time and we’re very used to seeing his horses at the head of affairs. Possibly he will be ridden differently on this first outing for Charlie Appleby.
But even if he is only ridden prominently, this race may work out well for him, as in the Leopardstown Group Two which he won when last seen in September. He could be a Group One horse this year and showed impressive durability when with Johnston. Cheekpieces first time suggest Appleby means business here.
Otherwise, it looks like being another good day to be Ryan Moore. He’s aboard Marco Botti’s Yeenaan (1.30) in the opener and this three-year-old may now be ready to build on the progress he showed at the end of last year, when winning a heavy-ground handicap at Windsor.
He didn’t have much of a run on his March reappearance under Daniel Muscutt at Chelmsford but stayed on to be third, doing best of the hold-up horses. Better can be expected here and the Botti yard has started the season strongly.
Yeenaan is 11-2. Cannock Chase (2.00), Moore’s mount in the Gordon Richards, is only 2-1 but he’s fully entitled to be, judged on the upward curve he showed last spring and summer. He hasn’t been seen since his Group Three success at Royal Ascot, having had a couple of niggles after that apparently, but it would be no surprise if Sir Michael Stoute continues to extract improvement from this four-year-old. Stoute used to have a fine record in this race, though it’s five years since he last won it.
At Perth, I think Owen Na View (2.40) may be underestimated at 9-2 if able to return to the form he showed when winning at Newbury last month. Things went wrong for him when turned out under a penalty five days later, as he ripped off a shoe at an early fence and hurt himself, being pulled up eventually. He’s higher again this time but deserves his new rating and a trouble-free round should put him in contention.
Tipping competition, day five
Our winners so far:
Monday
Out Do 14-1
Divine 7-1
Carthage 11-1
Tuesday
Future Security 3-1
Bold Runner 2-1
Pick A Little 7-2
Wednesday
Lungarno Palace 4-1
Collaboration 7-2
Al Khan 11-2
Thursday
Tanerko Emery 4-1
Two Jabs 3-1
Gunna Be A Devil 5-1
And our leader is …
Stephen Peter Phillips +21.50
… who had Two Jabs yesterday, continuing a fine week in style.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 2.30 Sandown, 3.35 Sandown, 4.20 Perth.
This week, we’re offering you a second chance to win a copy of Racing & Football Outlook’s Flat Racing Guide 2015, including tips for the season ahead, profiles of horses to follow, detailed results from last year and trainer interviews among many features. If you don’t win, you can buy it here.
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 up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -12.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day (TODAY).
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Good luck!
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