Daryl Carter's Best Bets (Tuesday 12th April)

Daryl Carter has his sights set on Newmarket’s Craven meeting on Tuesday. Our top tipster has five selections across the card, alongside Bet365‘s new customer offer of Bet £10, Get £50 In Free Bets.

All odds correct at time of publishing.

1.50 Newmarket – OSTILIO (1pt e/w – 20/1 Coral, Ladbrokes, Boylesports)

Lots to like in here, but there is little doubt that OSTILIO is well-handicapped, and that’s not come because he is out of form, but because connections have been running him over 7f and 1m on the all-weather for which his record reads 1-11 (and the win was in a class 6 seller) since November and he is far too free for those trips. He was a huge eye-catcher last season at Beverley over 5f in a Listed contest, and I strongly fancied him for the Ayr Gold Cup, but it wasn’t to be. He is now 7lbs lower than at that time, and he returns to Newmarket, where he scored back in 2018. This trip of 6f looks a big positive to his chances, as does the return to turf for the first time since the Ayr Gold Cup, for which he was subsequently gelded after. The positives stack up tremendously in his favour off of this reduced handicap mark, so I have to get back on board.

3.00 Newmarket – BELL ROCK (1pt win – 8/1 Coral, Ladbrokes, William Hill)

Master Of The Seas will prove very tough to beat, no doubt, but there is never a better time to catch BELL ROCK than the first time up and couple that with Newmarket, and you usually have a recipe for success. He has a bit to find at the ratings, but he ran his biggest RPR figure at this track on seasonal return last year (114), and the top two in the market have only beaten that figure twice in their careers, and they may not be fully wound up for this target today. Bell Rock’s performance in the Cambridgeshire is easily forgiven as he has thrown in a poor effort on his third start in big field handicaps in the last two years also. This small field will suit him, as will the ground and the track, and there are few negatives with his chances today.

3.35 Newmarket – SYSTEM (0.5pt e/w – 28/1 Betfair, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes)

A cracking renewal this, but I thought SYSTEM looked very over-priced given she has beaten today’s favourite in the Empress Fillies’ Stakes here over six-furlong last season and shaped as though she would improve a good deal for going up to today’s trip of 7f. The favourite may well have improved since then, but she has also been behind Hello You, and her third in the Fillies Mile saw the race have a bunch finish. Richard Hannon has had his string ready to roll the first time out for the second season running. She can be forgiven her final two starts of the season against the boys, and she was only getting going before being denied a clear run at Royal Ascot in the Princess Margaret Stakes when beaten two lengths by Zain Claudette – that form puts her in with a shout. She could easily improve this year as most of her family did with age and a return to the scene of her career-best performance is no negative.

3.35 Newmarket – PERFECT NEWS (1pt win – 5/1 Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes)

PERFECT NEWS was a sizeable two-year-old, so there’s plenty of scope for improvement physically into her three-year-old season, and her handicap win off 93 on her penultimate start of last season means she has earned her rating of 100. I am not entirely convinced by both Cachet, and Hello You at the top of the market, and the former has earned her rating in defeat, having only gotten her head in front in a Novice event on debut, so that 108 is a bit suspect. William Haggas’ filly gets a first-time tongue-tie to help with her breathing, and there is certainly more to come from her.

4.45 Newmarket – THUNDER MAX (1pt win – 7/1 Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes)

THUNDER MAX is the only horse in the field with a race under his belt, and that should hold him in good stead here. There is little to separate all of these on what they have achieved, but Thunder Max did catch the eye at Doncaster, staying on strongly from an unpromising position. His debut form has worked out well enough to think this mark of 83 is within reach, and it’s likely that his latest run will work out soundly. It’s rather surprising he managed to win over 7f last term because his breeding is all stamina and the way he shapes in his races suggests that a stiff test is what he needs. There could be plenty more to come from him, and he will enjoy this track.

DARYL CARTER’S BEST BETS

1.50 Newmarket – OSTILIO (1pt e/w – 20/1 Coral, Ladbrokes, Boylesports)

3.00 Newmarket – BELL ROCK (1pt win – 8/1 Coral, Ladbrokes, William Hill)

3.35 Newmarket – SYSTEM (0.5pt e/w – 28/1 Betfair, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes)

3.35 Newmarket – PERFECT NEWS (1pt win – 5/1 Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes)

4.45 Newmarket – THUNDER MAX (1pt win – 7/1 Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes)