Pick of the Pundits – Top two pundits go head-to-head today

It’s been a turbulent few weeks for the 50 pundits in the Racing Post naps competition.

While there were 13 winning tipsters yesterday, nobody has really had a great month with the longest winning sequence being three for The Duke of the Yorkshire Post.

So it may not come as a huge surprise to see a few pundits go against each other and the two who have proven the most profitable to follow in this campaign are taking each other on at Sandown today.

Gary Nutting of the Sunday Mirror is the runaway leader of the naps competition with his naps returning a £31.81 profit for a £1 stake this year, and he is napping Gosbeck (8/1) in the 14:45 at Sandown.

However today he is up against his man rival in the Sunday Express’ Chris Goulding who can boast a £16.46 profit for a £1 stake this year.

Goulding is siding with All My Heart (6/1) and the odds would suggest Goulding has a better chance of napping the winner.

This 1m6f handicap is a very competitive race with the favourite, Stagecoach Danman, available at 7/2 and the longest-priced runners, Gottany O’s and Slight Advantage, both available at 8/1.

Only Hollow Tree (5/1) can boast winning form over this distance but Gottany O’s can boast solid form in the Class 3 races.

There is no doubt that the field is very tightly bunched but the soft ground at Sandown could be a hindrance to a number of these runners and so punters should focus on both Hollow Tree and Gottany O’s.

The latter could spring a surprise at 8/1 and looks a very tempting each-way price, but Hollow Tree, with the experience of Richard Hughes on board and under the tuition of Andrew Balding – a man with a 20% strike rate with thee-year-olds at Sandown – should win easily.