Neil Morrice shares all of his best bets and tips for Thursday's racing coming your way from Ayr, Yarmouth, Pontefract and Chelmsford City on 19 September 2024.
AYR
Race 3 No5 WATER OF LEITH (Nap)
Trainer: Jim Goldie – Jockey: Paul Mulrennan
Goldie has a habit of pulling rabbits out of the hat at this historic Western meeting and WATER OF LEITH can provide the trainer with an early strike. The gelding found himself on the wrong part of the track but still claimed a decent cheque at Doncaster last week which has teed him up beautifully for this.
Race 5 No10 POL ROGER (Each Way)
Trainer: Michael Dods – Jockey: Connor Beasley
The experiment of trying POL ROGER over a mile and a half failed to pay off when he was outstayed by La Pulga at Thirsk last week. Now returned to his optimum distance of ten furlongs the four-year-old can advertise his love of Ayr by making it a third course and distance success of the season, with BARLEY one to have a saver on. The selection is up the class ladder, but if starting close to his double-figure forecast price makes a very strong win and place appeal.
Race 8 No8 BRAES OF DOUNE (Each Way)
Trainer: Jim Goldie – Jockey: Paul Mulrennan
Goldie should see BRAES OF DOUNE going well in this competitive finale. He’s a pea out of the same pod as stablemate Water Of Leith, as he caught the eye finishing third at Carlisle in an exercise that should have put him spot on to deliver.
YARMOUTH
Race 2 No14 MAKE LOVE (Nap)
Trainer: James Horton – Jockey: Saffie Osborne
There’s been an element of disappointment about MAKE BELIEVE’s last couple of starts, and especially when she managed only a minor frame finish on handicap debut at Wolverhampton. She was however very easy to back that day, and if recapturing the level of her first two starts now back in a maiden she can open her account.
Race 3 No8 ENVIRONMENT AMIGO
Trainer: James Fanshawe – Jockey: Oisin Murphy
ENVIRONMENT AMIGO receives upwards of 5lb from his foes in this stayers’ handicap and is as the least exposed horse in the field the most likely to progress. On the back of a gritty first career triumph at Southwell, where he relished a step up in trip, the Golden Horn gelding can follow up in the hands of champion jockey elect Murphy.
Race 5 No9 THE GOOD BISCUIT
Trainer: Jack Channon – Jockey: Tom Marquand
THE GOOD BISCUIT is a name to conjure with in the closing weeks of the season and I’m expecting a big run from him as he returns from a mid-season break. In a race that the three-year-olds can dominate, he can take advantage of a more than fair mark and post a first success of the campaign under a jockey who boasts a very good strike rate on the horses he rides from this stable.
PONTEFRACT
Race 2 No4 FORT AUGUSTUS (Nap)
Trainer: Charlie Hills – Jockey: Jim Crowley
By its high standards, the Hills stable has been quiet through the summer, but there are some well-regarded juveniles to come out of Faringdon Place Stables and FORT AUGUSTUS is in that number. The Blue Point colt finished just out of the money on his debut in a warm heat at Newmarket, and was probably made too much use of next time at Ascot. As long as he’s given a chance to slot in close to the pace but not on it he should open his account.
Race 3 No7 KING’S REIGN
Trainer: Charlie Appleby – Jockey: Dougie Costello
It’s not often you see the Godolphin silks carried by a horse at the foot of the weights, but that’s the case with KING’S REIGN who is not only unexposed but also competes in first-time cheek pieces. The Dubawi gelding returned from an underwhelming run on the first day of the season at Doncaster to finish third to the useful Shader at Southwell and in the process qualified to run in handicaps. It’s hard to imagine he doesn’t have more to offer in this area of the racing spectrum.
Race 7 No6 LERWICK
Trainer: Ed Bethell – Jockey: PJ McDonald
From a stable on a hot streak, LERWICK can prove a bet worth waiting for. He returned to winning ways with a decisive conversion at Beverley and is in the mood to carry on from where he left off in the oldest colours still carried in Great Britain those of Lord Zetland.
CHELMSFORD CITY
Race 5 No6 CUT TO THE CHASE (Each Way)
Trainer: Tony Carroll – Jockey: William Carson
CUT TO THE CHASE came back with an excuse when third on handicap bow at Brighton which tells me he might have finished closer but for contact with another horse mid-race. That fifth outing of his career was his best so far, and there could easily be more to come.
Race 7 No13 MASTER DANDY (Each Way)
Trainer: James Fanshawe – Jockey: Jack Doughty
Winning in emphatic fashion at Lingfield last week was just what the doctor ordered for MASTER DANDY who goes up 3lb next week. Under the same promising apprentice who rode him that day, and competing from the same mark, he can make it a quick-fire double strike.
Race 8 No3 SAIGON DREAM (Nap)
Trainer: Jack Channon – Jockey: Edward Greatrex
SAIGON DREAM went close pulling off a 66-1 shock at Kempton and on that line of form will prove very hard to stop in this restricted maiden. The Oasis Dream gelding can take care of business on the way to better things.
Race 9 No1 HEREATHETRACK (Each Way)
Trainer: Mark Usher – Jockey: George Rooke
Top weight HEREATHETRACK has raced almost exclusively at this course since the spring, carding figures of 24224. A winner here back in January, he’s going to return to winning ways any day soon, and granted luck in running can take the spoils at the main expense of Forever Proud.
Place Accumulator Perm (Races 3-9)
7, 3 x 5, 6, 9 x 6, 4, 5 x 4, 1 x 13, 1 x 3 x 1, 8, 2
R216
