A full Bank Holiday spread today, six meetings stretching from Bath in the west up to Redcar in the north, with Dundalk and Lingfield handling the night shift on the all-weather. Plenty to get stuck into, and a fair split between horses we’re happy to trust at the front of the market and a clutch of bigger prices we think are overlooked.
Leicester is where the day really takes shape for us. Victory Gold sets the tone in the opener. He ran a fine second on his Ascot debut over this trip earlier this month, making the running before the winner went on to score again, and he drops into Class 4 here for Saeed bin Suroor with Oisin Murphy taking the ride. That’s a solid step down in grade for a horse who showed plenty first time out. Later on the card, Ottoman is the one to watch on the betting boards. He won over course and distance last June and has been dropped to a handy mark off 55 on the back of it. The cheekpieces that helped land that win come off today, so a market check on his reappearance tells you whether the yard fancies it.
Redcar gives us a different kind of pick. Gaelic Approach lines up in another of those small-field handicaps he handles so well, his record in them reading 212. He led them along last time and was only caught close home, so the front-running role in a three-runner heat looks ideal with Connor Beasley staying aboard. In the same race programme, Hoseki returns from a break for William Haggas off a mark of 34, her better effort coming when third at Newbury over a mile on soft. She steps up to a mile and two for the first time today, and the trip looks the making of her.
Lingfield rounds things off under the lights, and Luminare is the one we keep coming back to. She was beaten just a length into third over the course and distance back in January, has won at both Bath and Newcastle, and returns from a four-month break for Haggas with Tom Marquand booked. The form and the trip both stack up.
Beyond those, there’s a longer-priced strand worth a small interest, with the likes of Cartwheel and Blindfold Games at Leicester and Welljudged at Lingfield giving the each-way money something to chase.
No settled results to report from yesterday, so we’ll let today’s card do the talking. Six meetings, and the staking plan does the rest.