Today’s best bets, by Greg Wood
There are some tricky and competitive events on the cards at Nottingham and Salisbury this afternoon, not least the six-furlong sprint handicap at the former track, in which it is 8-1 the field and it is possible to make some sort of a case for every one of the 17 runners.
Penny Pot Lane (4.40) arguably brings the strongest recent form to the race, however, having followed up her victory at Ripon in August - under today’s jockey, Nathan Evans - with a close second in a stronger race at Carlisle. Richard Whitaker’s string is in decent form and, though there is an extensive list of possible dangers, Penny Pot Lane’s preference for sitting close behind a strong pace could also be the right one today.
This race is the final of the Grassroots Sprint Series run at tracks owned by Jockey Club Racecourses and the final of the Middle Distance Series on the same card is also well-contested, as befits a £25,000 prize fund. Bedrock (3.30) is the clear favourite, however, and has shown the steady improvement typical of William Haggas’s horses in his last few starts. With the Haggas stable still in excellent form, Bedrock will be hard to beat.
Master Gunner got off the mark on his third attempt in a handicap when successful at Wolverhampton last time off 74, but he had been beaten off 69 on his two previous starts and looks quite short at around 9-2 from a new mark of 81 in the one-mile handicap. Flyboy (4.05) could be the one to back against him, now that Mr Andros has been scratched, while Mount Moriah (3.00) also has decent prospects on the same card.
The 10-furlong handicap is the standout race on the Salisbury card and Zamperini (3.55) is definitely worth a bet to give Jim Crowley another winner in his pursuit of the Flat jockeys’ title. Mike Murphy’s gelding only had a nose to spare at the line when successful at Sandown in July but Zamperini did well to win at all, having been forced to wait for running room, and he need only cope with a 5lb rise in the weights as a result.
