Newmarket begins its Guineas Festival, with Punchestown’s main meeting onto day four on Friday. Andrew Mount focuses on a busy racing day with his top tips.
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Posted: 4pm, Thursday, May 1st
2.00 Goodwood – NOBLE CHAMPION (1pt win – 7/2 generally)
Ed Walker’s string is showing signs of hitting peak form and I like the claims of NOBLE CHAMPION in this 1m conditions contest. The son of Lope De Vega drops in class after his reappearance seventh of ten to Jonquil in the Greenham where he did well to finish just under six lengths behind the winner as he raced on the slowest part of the track. It was a big advantage to race on the stands’ side of centre that day, favouring high draws, with the first six home coming from the six highest draws. Noble Champion was always caught wide of the favoured rail from stall 3 and it was a very useful effort in the circumstances.
2.35 Goodwood – SHAGRAAN (1pt win – 3/1 bet365, 11/4 William Hill)
York’s Symphony Group Handicap, run over the extended 5f trip at the Ebor meeting, has been a graveyard for three-year-olds and any horse from that age group that runs well is worth following closely. In 2023, JM Jungle ran a close-up third as a three-year-old and returned 12 months later to win the same race (tipped in this column). Last year, Mick Appleby’s SHAGRAAN finished just over a length back in fifth place, doing best of the classic generation, and went on to win at Haydock next time before struggling to see out the trip when fancied for the Portland. He looks set for a good four-year-old campaign and this course and distance winner will appreciate the small field – he’s by Sioux Nation whose progeny have a fantastic record over 7f or shorter in fields of ten or fewer runners), landing 108 of their 526 starts (20.5% strike-rate) for a profit of £140.66 to a £1 level stake at SP.
7.20 Newcastle – CHUZZLEWIT (1.5pt win – 13/2 generally)
CHUZZLEWIT caught the eye when a best-of-the-closers third over tonight’s course and distance three runs back when it paid to be handy thanks to the tailwind and steady early pace. Overnight Oats, the patiently-ridden fifth, has won twice since, while 22-1 shot Orbaan, given a hold-up ride in fourth, finished a good second when punted at Epsom next time. Things didn’t work out for Chuzzlewit the next twice – Kevin Ryan’s five-year-old raced up with the pace into the headwind when fifth of 14 at Doncaster (the race that produced subsequent winner Metaverse, who also raced prominently in that 7f contest) and a wide draw/patient tactics did for him when sixth at Pontefract. With front-runners in stalls 8 and 9 tonight, he should be able to sit just behind the pace before pouncing late.
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Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
2.00 Goodwood – NOBLE CHAMPION (1pt win – 7/2 generally)
2.35 Goodwood – SHAGRAAN (1pt win – 3/1 bet365, 11/4 William Hill)
7.20 Newcastle – CHUZZLEWIT (1.5pt win – 13/2 generally)
Andrew Mount’s Horse Racing Tips – Friday, 2nd May
Andrew’s Angles – How to Find Early-season Profits with Two-Year-Olds
With Cheltenham and Aintree behind us I’m going to turn my attention to the Flat turf season and attempt to identify some profitable angles. Two-year-old races can be a turn-off for punters at this time of year as we’re usually dealing with a host of unraced horses but there are plenty of winner-finding angles… Foaling…
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