Today’s best bets, by Chris Corrigan
Mick Easterby has certainly proved his versatility over the last fortnight, the Sheriff Hutton trainer having saddled winners of a handicap chase, a maiden hurdle, a bumper and an all-weather handicap at Newcastle, from a total of 13 runners.
Easterby’s only runner on Monday is Ladies First (12.20) at Southwell. This three-year-old has very much a sprinting pedigree and she tackles six furlongs following her racecourse debut at Wolverhampton two weeks ago over an extended mile.
Ladies First finished third there at 28-1, behind two short-priced rivals, and market support for her chance this time would definitely make her of interest. She’s 5-2 at present.
Later on the same card, Queen Moon (1.20) has a fine chance. This filly had her first run on the all-weather in October, over the same course and distance, finishing third. The winner and fourth from that race have certainly franked the form since. David Probert again takes the ride on Andrew Balding’s runner, an 11-4 shot.
Our latest ‘trainer form’ table
Ben Pauling 31% (29)
Harry Fry 29% (21)
Emma Lavelle 25% (16)
Nick Williams 25% (12)
Nicky Henderson 24% (49)
Colin Tizzard 24% (41)
Fergal O’Brien 24% (17)
Warren Greatrex 23% (26)
Donald McCain 21% (34)
Nicky Richards 20% (10)
Tom George 19% (26)
Kim Bailey 18% (22)
Sue Smith 17% (18)
Dan Skelton 16% (45)
Paul Nicholls 16% (43)
Nigel Twiston-Davies 15% (34)
Kerry Lee 14% (14)
Jonjo O’Neill 13% (32)
Venetia Williams 13% (23)
Rebecca Curtis 13% (8)
Neil Mulholland 10% (50)
Alan King 10% (39)
David Pipe 10% (21)
Oliver Sherwood 10% (20)
Peter Bowen 10% (10)
Tim Vaughan 9% (23)
Lucinda Russell 9% (22)
Malcolm Jefferson 9% (11)
Gary Moore 7% (29)
Brian Ellison 7% (15)
Philip Hobbs 6% (35)
Ian Williams 6% (17)
Evan Williams 3% (31)
Charlie Longsdon 0% (24)
Dr Richard Newland 0% (6)
Chris Cook: Each Monday through the core jumps season, we’ll monitor the relative success of 35 major jumps stables. The percentage figure is their win strike-rate for the last fortnight, while their total number of runners in that time is shown in brackets.
Ben Pauling and Harry Fry still top the table, with slightly reduced strike-rates since last Monday. Emma Lavelle has shot to prominence, thanks to three winners in the past week. Nick Williams has done well with a handful of runners. Donald McCain has had five winners since our last table was published, moving him up. That’s two more than Paul Nicholls, who has slipped a bit, as has Nigel Twiston-Davies, with just one winner since Bristol De Mai’s Haydock romp nine days ago.
Nicky Richards and Jonjo O’Neill have had a couple of winners each. Brian Ellison and Rebecca Curtis got themselves away from the bottom of the table with a single winner each, but both were on the Flat (I’m afraid I don’t have time to weed the Flat runners out of these numbers but they don’t affect many of these trainers). Curtis has gone 82 days without a jumps winner and is 0/38 in that time.
Tips for all Monday races
Southwell
11.50 Restive 12.20 Ladies First (nb) 12.50 Jennies Gem 1.20 Queen Moon (nap) 1.50 Cashla Bay 2.20 Novabridge 2.50 Bold Spirit 3.20 Star Ascending
Plumpton
12.40 Puppet Warrior 1.10 Optimus Prime 1.40 Jester Jet 2.10 What’s Occurring 2.40 Fight Commander 3.10 Money For Nothing 3.40 Nocturnal Myth
Fakenham
1.00 Mullaghboy 1.30 Cody Wyoming 2.00 Classic Ben 2.30 Saucysioux 3.00 Brother Bennett 3.30 War At Sea
