Neil Morrice brings you all of his best bets and tips for Thursday’s racing from Beverley, Chelmsford, Warwick, Kempton and Perth.
Beverley Best Bets
Race 1: IVA GO (5)
Trainer: Tim Easterby
Jockey: David Allan
With her plum draw against the rails, IVA GO has a favourite’s chance of endorsing the promise shown when second on her Redcar introduction. Popular in market exchanges, she made a good fist of trying to go wire to wire only to be reeled-in by Exclusively. Most juveniles from her stable improve markedly from a first run to the next.
Race 2: KNIGHTCAP (6)
Trainer: Tim Easterby
Jockey: David Allan
All being well history can repeat itself 35 minutes later as KNIGHTCAP is a virtual carbon copy of Iva Go for Easterby and Allan. She took a bit longer to reach top gear on her Thirsk debut but when the penny dropped hit the front, only to weaken inside the final 200 metres. As a 25-1 roughie that day she is entitled to know a lot more.
Chelmsford City Best Bets
Race 2: DOMINUS (2)
Trainer: Brian Meehan
Jockey: Tom Marquand
The fact that he is race sharp after a near miss at Leicester gives DOMINUS the edge over the equally promising Hero Hero. The selection fought back gamely after being headed by Oasis Prince on that seasonal reappearance. Interestingly, Meehan sent out Tadbir to take the corresponding contest in 2018 and Dominus has excellent claims to get onto the lead and go all the way.
Race 4: FOXTROT LADY (6)
Trainer: Andrew Balding
Jockey: David Probert
While Dream Of Dreams sets the standard in this fascinating Sprint courtesy of his form in Group races, FOXTROT LADY appeals as the type to aspire to better things, just as other members of her family have. The selection wasn’t seen after smoothly landing the odds at Salisbury in September but her recent work indicates she’s progressed and her trainer excels with fillies of her ilk.
Warwick Best Bets
Race 6: BOUGHTBEFORELUNCH (2)
Trainer: Paul Webber
Jockey: Tom Scudamore
A very eye-catching jockey booking for BOUGHTBEFORELUNCH who has become something of a perennial bridegroom since his only success earlier in the season. The selection showed a good attitude when rallying for second against multiple scorer Coopers Square over this course and distance last month and is a much more reliable proposition than stablemate Copperfacejack.
Race 8: STONER’S CHOICE (6)
Trainer: Ben Case
Jockey: Max Kendrick
With a few top stables represented this is a Bumper that will take a bit of winning but STONER’S CHOICE ran a cracker on his Market Rasen debut after being supported and is likely to be a lot wiser with the experience under his belt. At likely near double-figure odds he’s well worth Each Way backing, while having the ability to win.
Kempton Best Bet
Race 6: PEGGIES VENTURE (3)
Trainer: Alan King
Jockey: Wayne Hutchinson
PEGGIES VENTURE will most likely go off the outsider on three in a race that has cut up dramatically at the overnight stage owing to drying underfoot conditions. The 8yo is also returning from a protracted absence of over five months but with conditions less likely to inconvenience her than her two foes she can Spring a minor upset.
Perth Best Bets
Race 4: WICKED WILLY (6)
Trainer: Nigel Teiston-Davies
Jockey: Sam Twiston-Davies
This represents a step up in class for WICKED WILLY but when scoring a Kempton last month he gave the impression he has found extra reserves and can continue on an upward curve. He showed an impressive change of pace to circumnavigate almost every horse in the race between two flights out and the run in and then opened up further to go clear. On that evidence, the move is to back him to follow-up.
Race 5: FROM EDEN (4)
Trainer: Gordon Elliott
Jockey: Fergus Gregory
Elliott’s raiders to this Festival are always afforded maximum respect and the same is true when assessing FROM EDEN who was hugely impressive in scoring at Ayr and looks as if he won’t have any problem stepping up the distance ladder. The further he travelled the better he looked that day, and since scoring in Ireland earlier in the season he hasn’t looked back.
