11.45am Balthazar recovering from fall in the Grand National
Tony Paley: Trainer Philip Hobbs reports Balthazar King to be making “steady progress” as he recovers from his fall in the Grand National.
Last year’s runner-up suffered broken ribs after bringing down Ballycasey when he came down at the Canal Turn on the first circuit. Having initially been treated on the course, he was transferred to the University of Liverpool Equine Hospital by horse ambulance.
Hobbs posted on Twitter on Monday: “Balthazar King has had a good 24 hours and [is] making steady progress. He has broken a couple of ribs and is very sore but is eating and seems bright in himself. Thank you for all your kind messages of support we will keep you updated.”
Monday’s best bets, by Greg Wood
Despite what the bright sparks in charge of marketing British racing will try to convince you, the spiritual opening to the new Flat season on turf is, and always will be, the Craven meeting at Newmarket this week, which has been needlessly excised from the reckoning for this year’s jockeys’ title.
The action on the Flat is predictably low-key in the run-up to the first meeting at Headquarters, however, one of the few exceptions this afternoon being the one-mile handicap at Redcar in which Ellaal (3.50) is a very fair price for success.
Taghreeb, the winner of his only start last season, will attract plenty of money but his Salisbury maiden has not proved to be a rich source of subsequent winners. The fitting of first-time blinkers for his four-year-old debut raises the odd question mark too.
Ellaal, by contrast, has already proved himself fit and well this year and was beaten only narrowly over this course and distance last week. At 5-1, he is the obvious value in a competitive race.
Second Wave (4.20) should be suited by the step up to a mile in the three-year-old handicap on the same card, but the most interesting race of the afternoon appears to be the three-and-a-quarter mile handicap chase at Kelso. Mister Marker would be an interesting contender if he is in the mood to produce his best as he is very fairly weighted on the pick of his form, but he is not a chaser to trust implicitly and Big Sound (4.30), twice a winner last year, may be a more reliable choice.
Pixie Cut (4.00) can step up on a close second last time out to record her first win over hurdles on the same card, while Flipping (3.40) could be the answer to a ferociously competitive handicap at Windsor.
Tipping competition - a new week
Congratulations to Slicker66, who won last week’s competition on a final score of +31.75, having picked Silviniaco Conti on Friday. Hopefully he put his £50 Grand National bet to good use.
This week’s prize is a copy of Racing & Football Outlook’s Flat Racing Guide 2015, including tips for the season ahead, profiles of horses to follow, detailed results from last year and trainer interviews among many features. If you don’t win, you can buy it here.
To kick things off, we’d like your selections, please, for these races: 3.40 Windsor, 4.10 Windsor, 4.30 Kelso.
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!
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And post your tips or racing-related comments below.
