The opening day of the St Leger meeting takes place on Wednesday and our top tipster, Daryl Carter brings five tips for the Doncaster card. Check out his selections below, along with an excellent sign-up offer from Ladbrokes of Bet £5 – Get £20 in Free Bets
BULLET FORCE – (1.45 Doncaster, 1pt each-way – 8/1)
This is a race that will work out well as we advance, with many of these open to plenty of improvement and looking very fairly treated. The three that hit my radar immediately were Modern Games, Sed Maarib and BULLET FORCE.
The first mentioned looks to have been handed a lenient opening mark of 90, but it remains to be seen how good debutant Crest is who he failed to give weight to last time. Sed Maarib may not be streetwise enough for this and will want further in due course, so that left Bullet Force, who has improved with each run and bumped into what may turn out to be a very useful one at Sandown two starts ago.
That race wasn’t run to suit the selection (5 secs slower than the other race on the card), but this contest is sure to be run at a good clip. He may get slightly outpaced at a stage, but he will be finishing strongly. His Musselburgh form got a boost on Monday by the runner-up, and an opening handicap mark of 82 is undoubtedly one he will leave behind. He looks the right here, right now horse in the field and is a promising handicapper.
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SUNSET BAY – (3.25 Doncaster, 0.5pts each-way – 14/1)
I want to be against those drawn low here who will run towards the centre of the track, given every winner of this race in the last ten years has come down the stands side rail. That looks to be the favoured part of the track here at Doncaster, and that gave me a shortlist of Potapova, Statement and SUNSET BAY.
The latter continues to improve with each run and left the impression at Newbury, there was still more to come behind a subsequent winner now rated 102 and that a stronger pace would have seen her to better effect. She has plenty to find at the weights here but has a piece of Newmarket form as a two-year-old that suggests it’s not as much as the ratings suggest.
She is a late bloomer, and on the upgrade, She has been grated a good draw in stall 10 with the market leaders filling the low drawn spots. She is worth a speculative punt at big odds.
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TARBOOSH – (4.00 Doncaster, 2pts win – 4/1)
Arecibo dropping in class could have a say, but his form tends to tail off this time of year, so this looks like an excellent opportunity for TARBOOSH to land back to back Scarborough Stakes.
He has held his form very well this term in tougher races than this, but Doncaster really sees him at his best with a 2/3 (67%) record at this venue. He ran a similar race at Beverley as he did last season before bouncing back to score in this race, and this race lacks depth outside of Arecibo and the disappointing Khaadem, so he gets a confident vote.
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STRAIT OF HORMUZ – (4.30 Doncaster, 1pt win – 7/1)
Faisal will be very popular here and could be anything, but his bare form doesn’t warrant a mark of 98, so STRAIT OF HORMUZ is worth another chance now returned to the scene of his last victory and back up in trip off just a three-pound higher mark (thanks to claimer). He has been knocking on the door this term in better races than this one.
He is the only one in the field that has earned his rating through tough handicaps, so it will be interesting to see how the other fair. It’s interesting that they turn him around this quickly (never done before).
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WENTWORTH FALLS – (5.00 Doncaster, 1pt win – 5/1)
WENTWORTH FALLS showed plenty of his old zest at Newmarket last time, only finding an unexposed three-year-old who was on the upgrade too good at the finish. This is far easier than that assignment, and he returns to Doncaster for which two of his victories have come.
He is drawn next to plenty of pace angles and is now 8lbs lower than when scoring here at Doncaster in June last year in a class 3 event. Into a class four for the first time at Doncaster, he should take plenty of stopping.
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DARYL CARTER’S BEST BETS
BULLET FORCE – (1.45 Doncaster, 1pt each-way – 8/1)
SUNSET BAY – (3.25 Doncaster, 0.5pts each-way – 14/1)
TARBOOSH – (4.00 Doncaster, 2pts win – 4/1)
STRAIT OF HORMUZ – (4.30 Doncaster, 1pt win – 7/1)
WENTWORTH FALLS – (5.00 Doncaster, 1pt win – 5/1)
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