Neil Morrice brings us all of his best bets and tips for Friday’s racing coming your way from Sandown Park, Hamilton Park, and Cartmel.
SANDOWN PARK
Race 1: No5 – POLITICS
Trainer: Andrew Balding – Jockey: Oisin Murphy
POLITICS to beat Pure Dreamer looks the way to go in the opener on what is hopefully a punter friendly card at the Esther course. The hooded son of champion sprinter Muhaarar got the job done decisively on his Pontefract introduction after coming in for solid support, from which is perhaps a tad better than Pure Dreamer’s midfield finish over six furlongs at Newbury.
Race 4: No6 – RECOVERY RUN (Nap)
Trainer: Andrew Balding – Jockey: Oisin Murphy
It should be a case of third time lucky for RECOVERY RUN after the Nathaniel colt’s two near misses on Polytrack at Kempton and Chelmsford. He couldn’t cope with the more experienced King Zain on debut but stepped up on that to run Final Voyage to a neck at Chelmsford. He has a good draw and can prove too hot for the well-touted Kingman newcomer Symbolic Power.
Race 5: No8 – MON CHOIX
Trainer: Andrew Balding – Jockey: Oisin Murphy
On what could prove a red-letter day for the Balding operation MON CHOIX is taken to strike while the iron’s hot following his convincing success at Windsor on Monday night. Switching to turf from the all-weather, he bolted up by 7 lengths in that Class 4 and now finds himself in a Class 5 under a 6lb penalty. As long as that hasn’t left its mark, he can serve up a similarly dominant performance.
Race 7: No2 – REVOLVER
Trainer: Sir Mark Prescott – Jockey: Luke Morris
A Prescott ‘special’, REVOLVER has rattled off an impressive four-timer since being raced over staying distances, having obtained his handicap rating in three outings over seven furlongs at two. The Slade Power gelding has shown the ability to handle varying ground, and can demonstrate there’s more to come from the highest mark he’s competed from so far.
HAMILTON PARK
Race 5: No4 – JUSTIFIED (Nap)
Trainer: Mark Johnston – Jockey: Joe Fanning
The key to JUSTIFIED in this long-distance handicap is that it’s his first attempt at the trip, as he races like he wants it and is bred to get it. Having opened his account over a mile and a half here in late June, he needed another stride to reel in Magna Morelia over a slightly shorter trip on his latest visit last week. If that hasn’t taken anything out of him he can go one better on what promises to be very testing conditions.
Race 7: No3 – CONFIDE
Trainer: David O’Meara – Jockey: D Nolan
Striding Edge is a lightly-weighted in form Johnston runner but he might find CONFIDE too hot to handle. The Lope De Vega gelding’s debut success at Redcar has worked out, with runner-up Fishable scoring subsequently, while more recent placed efforts at Thirsk and York have also held up, especially when the selection went down by just a head to Golden Force at the last-named venue.
CARTMEL
Race 4: No2 – FORT DE L’OCEAN
Trainer: Oliver Greenall – Jockey: Henry Brooke
As this is a specialist track the cards look to have fallen right for last month’s course and distance winner FORT DE L’OCEAN. Having put in satisfactory efforts on two previous outings that were needed, the five-year-old skipped away from Licklighter on his first visit here and can defy a 7lb penalty at the main expense of fellow recent scorer Dogon.
Race 5: No1 – SEDDON
Trainer: Tom George – Jockey: Adrian Heskin
While it’s hard to rule out any of the five acceptors for this novices’ handicap chase, SEDDON is the one with the most scope for improvement over fences. Rated highly enough to contest the Cheltenham Festival Bumper two years ago, he made an underwhelming debut over the larger obstacles at Stratford a month ago but is thought to have learned bundles from that experience.
Race 6: No1 – STOP THE WORLD
Trainer: Tom George – Jockey: Adrian Heskin
STOP THE WORLD can double up for the George stable in this long-distance handicap chase. The son of Oscar has endured breathing problems but following wind surgery is ready to begin realising his early potential.
