Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
Wednesday’s Punchestown Gold Cup looked for a while as though it might be one of the great races of the season, when Don Cossack, Cue Card and Vautour were all expected runners. Now, alas, Don Cossack has a tendon injury, while Vautour has been committed to a shorter race tomorrow.
The result is that Cue Card has what looks a straightforward opportunity for what would be the eighth Grade One win of his career. The bookmakers offer no bigger than 4-7 and his most obvious rivals are Don Poli and Djakadam, who couldn’t lay a glove on him at Aintree the other day.
One can certainly be pleased for Cue Card and connections but it does mean that Punchestown this week looks remarkably short on competitive races. Of the 11 races priced up so far, there are eight favourites at even-money or shorter.
A couple of first-time geldings catch the eye today. At Chelmsford, Cryptic (4.00) is 3-1 to maintain his perfect handicap record, having passed the entire field in the Kempton straight to win his nursery in December. His pedigree suggests there should be plenty of improvement to come and a 5lb rise is not harsh for beating 13 rivals, even if the form has not worked out brilliantly. He is one of the first runners this year from the Luca Cumani stable.
The market could hardly be less interested in Bunbury (6.30), a 50-1 shot for a 10-furlong maiden at Windsor. Clearly, he is by no means the most confident tip I’ve given in this space but there are plenty of reasons to expect a better showing than when he was seventh of 10 on his Kempton debut two months ago.
He blew the start that day, made quick progress to lead and got tired late on. With that experience behind him and having been gelded since, we can hope to see a fitter, more professional horse today and that could make a big difference, bearing in mind he’s a brother to Zacinto, a Group Two winner back in 2009.
Tipping competition – a new week
Congratulations to millreef, who found Stargazer (8-1) on Friday to cement his victory in last week’s competition, with a final score of +28, well clear of Factormax (+16.38).
This week’s prize is a belter. It’s a copy of Timeform’s latest annual, Racehorses of 2015, a 1,000-page brick reviewing every horse trained in Britain that ran last year, with extended essays on the best of them, lavishly illustrated with photos and sure to be an item for any racing fan to treasure. If you don’t win, you can buy it here ... for £79!
To kick things off, we’d like your selections, please, for these races: 3.50 Ayr, 6.40 Naas, 7.00 Windsor.
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.
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.
