Today’s best bets
The news this morning concerns Barry Geraghty, who is said to be on the verge of signing as first jockey to JP McManus, filling the gap left by Tony McCoy. McManus’s man, Frank Berry, is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: “Hopefully it will happen. It is just not finalised but it will be. There might be something during the week about it.”
If the deal comes off, Geraghty will be giving up his position as first jockey to Nicky Henderson, though they would still link up from time to time as Henderson has horses for McManus. But the Lambourn job may have lost some of its appeal for Geraghty in the latest season, when Henderson’s chasers generally fared poorly. Although there were plenty of hurdle winners, Geraghty rode just two winners over fences for the yard in the whole season, a tenth of the total from two seasons before.
Today’s most tempting runner is, er, Most Tempting (2.45), a 9-2 shot in a sprint handicap at Wolverhampton. She got off the mark in a Lingfield maiden this month, which was about time, as it was her eighth race. But it was only her second run of the year and her form for Robert Cowell showed steady progress through her juvenile season.
The visor last time probably helped but I don’t think her chance is dependent on it working again. She is a sprinter who has got her act together and looks handicapped to win a race in which few of her rivals have any secrets.
Richard Hannon likes a winner at Windsor as much as his father did and Herridge (6.30), named after the newest of their stables, may be straight enough to land her maiden at the third attempt. She took a big step forward when upped to six furlongs at Kempton last time and six furlongs on turf should give her enough time to make her effort before the post arrives.
She’s 15-2, while you can get 4-1 about Lightning Charlie (8.05) in the later sprint handicap. He has been gelded since last seen, winning a Kempton maiden that has worked out well, and he comes from the Amanda Perrett yard which has made a fair start to the season.
Tipping competition – a new week
Congratulations to our four winners from Royal Ascot week, stanflashman, factormax, Templegate and cerises. If you haven’t already heard from us by email, you should do so today.
This week’s prize is a copy of Sean Magee’s new book, The Irish Derby, published to coincide with Saturday’s renewal, which will be the 150th running. I haven’t seen the book yet but the press release describes it as “superbly illustrated throughout” and “a fitting tribute to Ireland’s flagship race”, won in years past by Ballymoss, Nijinsky, Shergar and Galileo.
To kick things off, we’d like your selections, please, for these races: 4.45 Chepstow, 8.05 Windsor, 8.15 Wetherby.
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!
Click here for all the day’s racecards, form, stats and results.
And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
