Bank Holiday Monday gives us five meetings to chew over, with Cartmel taking centre stage on the jumps side and three Flat cards filling in around it at Leicester, Redcar and Windsor. Ballinrobe sneaks onto the slip too, with one outsider for the evening. It’s a card that rewards punters who want to spread the action across codes and across the day.
Leicester is where we start, and it’s where the strongest short-priced fancy of the afternoon lives. Luna Celeste has been second on both starts so far, both over six on the all-weather, and the move to turf comes with the tongue-tie off and Saffie Osborne sticking with the ride for Tom Clover. The form is there, the headgear move is meaningful, and at 1.44 she has to be the banker. Snapback is the other one to take from that card. A John and Thady Gosden debutant, 40,000 euro yearling, third foal out of a half-sister to a Group 3 winner. The yard hits at 29 percent first time out at Leicester. We’re happy to be on at 3.75.
Redcar gives us a deeper book. Fille Unique broke her duck at the eighth time of asking last month at Musselburgh, beating Data Fata Secutus over five on good ground. She’s gone up 3lb for that but had been threatening to win for a while, and Smart’s filly looks the type to follow up. The other Redcar pick we want flagged is Artagnan in the 4:43. He dead-heated in a Chelmsford six-furlong handicap last October and has run three honest races since. Back up to six is the trigger he needs, the drying ground is fine, and off 86 with an RPR of 96 there’s room to climb. Three points win.
Cartmel is the volume play. Six picks across four races, headed by Sir Tivo at 2.63 and Kilmore Rock at 4.33. We’ve also got a three-runner attack in the 5:11, which tells you what we make of the race. Spread the stakes how you like there, but Sean Og at 5.5 catches the eye most. Windsor rounds the Flat off with Trefor at 4.5 and First Principle at 3.25 as the meat of the card, plus a couple of bigger-priced darts in the 5:00 and 5:30.
Yesterday delivered three winners from eight, with Sir Galahad at 5.5 and Precise at 5 the headline acts. Onto today.