Friday’s best bets, by Greg Wood
A somewhat gloomy start to Oaks day at Epsom where the going is now good to soft, soft in places, but while the cloud cover is expected to linger all day, only light rain is forecast, if any, and the going should continue to dry ahead of tomorrow’s Derby.
The overcast conditions will not accelerate the process, however, and the ground will still be a little easier for the Oaks later than Minding, the favourite, might prefer. Aidan O’Brien’s filly came off second best on soft ground in the Irish 1,000 Guineas just 12 days ago, and the fact that she was 10 lengths clear of the third horse home suggests that she had a hard race in the process.
Thoughts on why Turret Rocks (4.30) could be the filly to benefit are here, while elsewhere on the card, Haalick (5.15) is fairly priced at around 13-8 to take the Surrey Stakes. Roger Varian’s colt seemed ideally suited to seven furlongs when second in a strong handicap at Goodwood last time, and recorded a good time in the process. That form gives him a couple of pounds to spare against his field and with just six races behind him, there should be further improvement to come.
Richard Hannon and Mark Johnston have taken four of the last five runnings of the Woodcote Stakes, and send out two obvious contenders in Legendary Lunch and Sea Of Snow respectively. The pair were first and second at Windsor last time but not in the order that the market expected, as Sea Of Snow held off Legendary Lunch, the 1-5 favourite, by half a length.
Both are clearly held in some regard at home, but with little between them last time, preference is for Tibr (2.00), who has attracted some money this morning. Ed Dunlop’s colt was a ready winner on his racecourse debut at Lingfield in early May, on the turf rather than the track’s all-weather surface, and may have a little more scope for progress than his market rivals.
Custom Cut (3.10) may be able to turn the tables on Arod, last year’s Diomed Stakes winner, on ground that is not expected to suit Peter Chapple-Hyam’s runner, while Master Of Finance (2.35) is a decent price to end the winning run of Dark Red, who had a perfect trip on the way to a narrow victory at Chester last time and has been raised another 5lb in the weights.
Tipping competition, day four (and final)
Our winners so far:
Tuesday
Triple Dream 8-1
Desert Strike 5-1
Wednesday
Elbereth 8-1
Nicki’s Nipper 20-1
Sign Of The Kodiac 12-1
Thursday
Treasury Notes 7-2
Inke 4-1
Bastille Day 6-1
And our leader is:
Steve Ellis +28
… who endured a winnerless Thursday, as did his nearest pursuer, zubica19 (+14). Other good scores: jackboyle1892 +11.50, AndieAndson +10.50, kmill68 +10.50, Mulldog +10, pontyken +8.50, Perry Tang +7, JahLion +7, fatdeano +7, Lindsey6677 +5.50, Mai11 +5, Harrytheactor +5.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 3.10 Epsom, 3.45 Epsom, 4.30 Epsom.
This week’s prize, generously offered by William Hill, is a £50 bet on Saturday’s Derby!
IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE WON, stand by your email from 5pm as we will need to contact you quickly to arrange your bet. Or you could specify on here how you would like your £50 staked in the event of success.
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 -8.
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!).
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
