Friday’s best bets, by Chris Cook
There’s just a chance Frankie Dettori will get to his 3,000th winner in Britain tonight at Newmarket. It’s a milestone he realised was within reach at the start of the year and now he is just three wins away with four fancied mounts on this evening’s card.
If my tips work out (anything’s possible), he’ll get a winner in the opening race but will have to wait at least until tomorrow’s Shergar Cup to hit the big number. Imagine if he did it on that card! Ascot’s PR folk might need oxygen.
Dettori has an interesting mount in the 10-furlong handicap but even more interesting, for me, is the 14-1 Roger Charlton three-year-old Pure Vanity (7.10), who starts in handicaps off what may be a very reasonable mark in light of all her siblings who earned much higher ratings. She achieved little in maidens but now steps up to the sort of trip suggested by her pedigree, three furlongs further than her only previous outing this year, three months ago at a time when the yard was in a quiet spell.
The nap goes at Musselburgh, where High On Light (4.30) is only 11-8 but has a fine chance. The only three-year-old in this field, she relished the step up to 12 furlongs when scoring readily at Thirsk last week and can go in again under a penalty.
Amirli (5.00) is the least fancied of three last-time winners in the closing race for amateur riders but he appeals to me at 7-2, having shown steady improvement since joining Alistair Whillans for this year. Whillans is going well just now, whereas the other recent winners in the race are with trainers who seem to have gone off the boil in the month since those successes.
Tipping competition, day five
Our winners so far:
Monday
Snap Shots 7-2
Goring 18-1
Moonlightnavigator 5-4
Tuesday
Project Bluebook 6-4
Master Dancer 9-2
Firmament 9-2
Wednesday
Cricklewood Green 12-1
Ralphy Boy 11-4
Little Voice 7-1
Thursday
William Hunter 9-2
Trevisani 7-4
Chaplin Bay 11-2
And our leader is:
Fixxxer +6.50
… who inherited the lead despite having a lower score than yesterday, which can’t have happened very often. Trevisani was his third winner of what has been a low scoring week. Other respectable scores: Mulldog +5.25, Crasivo +4.50, Lindsey6677 +1.75, Bigboozer +0.50, ps4999 +0, kingklynch +0, Ormrod76 +0.
For today’s thrilling climax, we’d like your tips, please, for these races: 3.00 Musselburgh, 4.10 Brighton, 8.20 Newmarket.
This week’s prize is a pair of County Enclosure tickets to York for the last day of their Ebor festival, Saturday 20 August, when the Ebor itself is the feature race. As well as the famous old handicap, you’ll also see the Gimcrack Stakes for flying two-year-olds. It’s a great day out at one of our most popular tracks. If you don’t win, you can buy tickets 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.
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
