2.45pm Newbury Greenham card switched to Chelmsford
Tony Paley: Chelmsford City will stage Saturday’s important Newbury Classic Trials card after the original venue succumbed to waterlogging on Friday.
Race times will stay the same and the four races originally set to be televised by Channel 4 Racing will still get terrestrial coverage. Entries revert to the five-day stage with declarations to be made by trainers at 3.30pm.
Paul Johnson, head of racing for the British Horseracing Authority, said: “The rapid deterioration in the weather at Newbury meant that this fixture had to be rescheduled at extremely late notice.
“This created significant challenges but we felt that it was important that the Newbury card, which contains some critical Guineas trials, should be rearranged on behalf of the connections of the horses and the betting public.
“Because of the proximity of the fixture to the Guineas meeting, it was felt that it was essential to stage the rescheduled card as early as possible. It also would have been very unlikely that the fixture would receive the necessary funding without Channel 4 coverage,
“Our thanks go to Newbury for making an early decision on their fixture, Chelmsford City for stepping in to stage the card, Weatherbys, and the Horserace Betting Levy Board for their financial assistance at short notice.”
Friday’s best bets, by Chris Cook
Rain, rain, go away. It is one thing to keep the ground heavy throughout the jumps season but now Friday’s first Flat card at Newbury has been abandoned because of waterlogging and the chances of the Greenham Stakes taking place there on Saturday appear very slim indeed.
We’ve even got a soft-ground Scottish National lined up for Saturday, which never happens. As an ex-girlfriend from Glasgow used to say, fun’s fun but to hang with nonsense. Can we have some dry weather, please, so that we can see some actual speed on the racecourse before the Ebor meeting?
There ought to be some kind of pace on show at Bath tonight, not least in the handicap over an extended five furlongs, because those drawn low there tend to go pretty quick. The thinking seems to be that they need to secure their position on the inside rail before the gradual turn to the left.
As a consequence, having a wide draw can work out pretty well in Bath sprints, if you’re running on strongly up the middle of the track while the leaders on the rail run out of gas and cause bunching behind. So I’m not worried about stall eight of 13 for Willsy (5.50), a 16-1 shot who makes quite a bit of appeal.
From the in-form Mick Channon yard, he is partnered by Silvestre De Sousa, who has a 20% record when riding for that stable. Willsy won at Chepstow last year on one of his only two starts on soft, having been a non-stayer over seven furlongs the other time. He had a reappearance success on the all-weather in February, his first run after a gelding operation, and didn’t get a great run when fifth last time. He’s handicapped to win if still comfortable on a surface like this.
I like three on Ayr’s card that opens the Scottish National meeting. The market seems to have decided that Takingrisks (3.10) has been a bit lucky to be left clear by fallers for his two successes this season but he’s a likeable type who stays well and, at 13-2, I’ll take him to continue his progress. I like Roycano but he’s gone up 12lb for unseating two-out at Newbury a fortnight ago, when I napped him, and that’s hard to take.
Tom George’s horses continue to go well and 7-2 looks big about Double Shuffle (3.45) after his third place at the Festival last month. Finally, you can get 10-1 about Marlee Massie (5.15), who has had an excellent season for Nick Alexander and ought to appreciate this step up in trip.
Tipping competition, day five
Our winners so far:
Monday
Imshivalla 4-1
Nakadam 9-4
Bazooka 16-1
Tuesday
Barton Gift 8-1
Teruntum Star 16-1
Nathra 5-4
Wednesday
Voix D’Eau 9-2
Ibn Malik 3-1
Brando 2-1
Thursday
Perfect Candidate 11-1
Accession 20-1
Aclaim 2-1
And our leader is:
Copshaw +26
… who has had just two winners all week but they were returned at 20-1 and 16-1! It was an eventful Thursday, with Cairo turning up for the first time this week and bagging Perfect Candidate AND Accession, to give him a share of second. Other good scores: Cairo +21, wemeanyounoharm +21, Geoff Staddon +20.25, yasmin11 +20, millreef +17, TheVic +16.50, hubertfarnsworth +12.75, NotThePubThePark +12.25, itsmilks +9.50, Crasivo +9, Bonzodrongo +9.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 3.45 Ayr, 5.15 Ayr, 6.20 Bath.
This week, we’re offering a second copy of Racing & Football Outlook’s Flat Guide 2016, the handy annual which as ever is packed with facts, analysis, tips and insights into the new season to help lift your spirits from the post-Aintree slump. If you don’t win, you can buy a copy 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).
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
