I always enjoy big handicap sprints and we have another of those today in the Great St Wilfrid at Ripon. In recent years this race has been dominated by higher drawn horses and by horses that race close to or up with the pace. The recent rain that the course has had should ensure that higher draws once again holds away. Advanced drawn 17, and ridden by the extremely capable claimer Amy Ryan is my idea of the value bet in the race. The earlier prices of 20s plus have gone but at around 16/1 the horse still rates good each way value as long as the least 16 runners go to post. Tajneed is a hot favourite and cannot be left out of calculations. Drawn 20, winner of the race two years ago, and trained by the sprint king Dandy Nicholls, he has everything in his favour. However, at around 11/4 the price is mighty tight. Of the lower drawn runners, I am hoping for a good run from my old friend Fullandby, but I feel that the draw will be the killer here. I expect the horse will win a decent handicap in the autumn so it may not be a bad thing if he is beaten by the draw today because that might help his price in the future. All in all therefore, it is Advanced for me each way, with a saver on Tajneed.

There is another competitive sprint handicap at Doncaster. The 4.35 is currently 7.6 the field on Betfair. Indeed, 10 of the 12 runners are priced between 7.6 and 14.5. There is a good pace amongst the higher draws with Nickel and Silver and Le Toreador both front runners. Doncaster though, does not really favour front runners even at this trip and hence I would be looking to trade out “in running” if backing either or both of them. All in all this looks a race to watch rather than bet.

Filed under: Daily Horse Racing Blog

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