GG tipster Andrew Mount is back with a couple of selections for Tuesday’s racing at Market Rasen and Southwell.
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Posted: 5:05pm January 8th (Odds correct at time of writing)
2.10 Market Rasen – MOON HUNTER (1pt win – 9/2 Paddy Power, Betfair & BetVictor)
Point-to-point winner MOON HUNTER scored comfortably in a good-ground novices’ hurdle at Wetherby in November 2022 on his debut for Henry Daly and followed up on similar going at Doncaster 47 days later. After that win his trainer, quoted in the Racing Post, said ‘Winning at Wetherby took a lot more out of Moon Hunter than I thought, he lost 27kg, and he’d barely had a race. That’s a lot to lose in an easy race and it surprised me’. More surprisingly, the six-year-old was asked to run on heavy ground just 16 days later in the Grade 2 Ballymore Leamington Novices’ Hurdle at Warwick. Perhaps the prize money was too tempting, but it was still an odd move to take in that race and he was always struggling before pulling. His jockey reported that he was ‘never travelling’ and his trainer said he would ‘prefer a quicker surface’. He was freshened up by a two-month break prior to his good-ground second to Henry’s Friend at Doncaster in March of last year and would have found underfoot conditions slower than ideal when 14th of 22 in a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Aintree on his final outing. I had him marked down as one to follow closely when switched to fences this term and he made a pleasing debut over the larger obstacles when keeping on into fourth at Cheltenham in October. He flopped at Exeter next time, finishing eighth, but that run came just 24 days after Cheltenham and it was probably too soon. Today’s ground (soft, good to soft in places) might be slower than ideal but, since the beginning of 2015, his trainer is ten from 24 with his chasers at Market Rasen for a profit of £27.13 to a £1 level stake at SP and the seven-year-old looks worth a bet.
7.00 Southwell – MISTY GREY (1pt win – 8/1 generally)
MISTY GREY has won just once from 23 outings on turf but is a superior beast on the all-weather, landing five of his 16 starts. On Tapeta only, his record stands at 111134 (4-6), with all the runs taking place at Wolverhampton. The first defeat – a one-length third in the 2022 renewal of the Listed Lady Wulfruna Stakes – was a fine effort, as he was drawn wide and fared best of those to come from off the pace. We didn’t see him on Tapeta again until Boxing Day when he ran fourth in a 7f Class 2 handicap. The seven-year-old was almost four lengths behind winner Intervention (who re-opposes tonight) but blew the start in first-time cheekpieces and actually did well to finish so close. Today’s track should suit, the headgear is left off and he looks set to go well.
Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
2.10 Market Rasen – MOON HUNTER (1pt win – 9/2 Paddy Power, Betfair & BetVictor)
7.00 Southwell – MISTY GREY (1pt win – 8/1 generally)
Moon HunterAndrew Mount’s tips for Tuesday 9th January 2024.