Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
I’m still labouring away at the Paul Nicholls horse-by-horse from earlier this month but let me share with you what the great man said about the ex-French Full Blast (2.00), which I fancy at 6-5 for the opener at Newton Abbot:
“He was disappointing last year. He was a bit keen on his first run for us, over hurdles at Chepstow in October, when he stopped as though he’d been shot. After he was pulled up at Fontwell in December, we gave him a breathing operation and gave him plenty of time off. Again, he might be one of those who needed a bit of time to acclimatise. He’s still eligible for novice hurdles and will be ready to run early. We should see some improvement now, provided he learns to settle.”
On the subject of settling, Full Blast wears a hood for the first time today. I think he’s worth chancing. His only obvious threat is Harry Fry’s General Ginger, carrying a penalty for winning an uncompetitive maiden event at Kempton in May. Full Blast is 6-5 from 7-4 when betting opened last night.
If that’s too short for you, how about Howyadoingnotsobad (5.40) in the Bath closer at 9-1? Winless for three years, he was heavily backed on his recent debut for John Gallagher at Lingfield and ran well before tiring into fourth.
Assuming he can sustain his effort to the line this time, he looks well treated on a mark more than a stone below his career peak. He’s drawn on the outside, which ought to be a disadvantage over five furlongs on this track but I’d be more worried if he were on the inner, because the temptation then is to go off too strongly to make that advantage stick.
Continuing the theme of horses having their second run for a new yard, have a look at Furiously Fast (5.20) at 12-1 for the last at Hamilton. He had his three maiden runs for Clive Brittain before joining Richard Fahey in the summer, running on at the end of the mile to be a distant fifth of seven on his handicap debut at Beverley.
He needs to be a lot better than that but I’d expect Fahey to have found some improvement in the past month. This extra half-mile certainly gives him more of a chance to get involved and he’s worth risking at the price, even if he is not quite bred for this distance.
Tipping competition - a new week
Congratulations to PHILYERBOOTS, who hung on to win last week’s competition on a final score of +14.25 after a winnerless Friday. The last-race success of Karaka Jack certainly made it interesting, with slackdad38 (+13) and bigboozer (+12.17) finishing close up.
This week’s prize is a copy of the Racing & Football Outlook Jumps Guide 2015, currently at the printers and expected in plenty of time for the Charlie Hall. It’s packed with its usual features, stats and expert views and can be purchased here if you don’t happen to win a copy.
To kick things off, we’d like your selections, please, for these races: 3.00 Newton Abbot, 4.40 Bath, 5.20 Hamilton.
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.
