Nayel the nap on a bumper Channel 4 racing card
Published:
A bumper day of televised racing awaits those tuning into Channel 4 from Saturday lunchtime, with nine contests to be shown from York, Sandown and Musselburgh.
Listed races and handicaps form the card and remember it’s Money Back if 2nd or 3rd to the SP Favourite on all Channel 4 races!*.
Here’s our three to watch:
A number of jockeys in this amateur race for females have very little experience of racing, let alone winning, and so this is an obvious route towards narrowing down the field.
Katie Walsh may be most commonly known as a jump jockey, but her booking on the Richard Hannon-trained Nayel is eye-catching.
He was 2lb out of the handicap when winning at York last month and given he was being driven from a fair way out that day, a rise in trip to 1m4f for the first time looks a sensible move.
Nayel only runs from a 4lb higher mark here and the only recent blip on his copybook came when beaten when there was some cut in the ground.
The going is currently good at York, meaning he has ground to suit, an encouraging jockey booking and a workable handicap mark.
The manner in which Dancing Star has won both of her handicap starts so far suggests she is a filly that retains plenty of untapped potential and possibly is capable of running at a higher level than this in the future.
She gets in off bottom weight in the 888Sport Charity Sprint over 6f and even though she has been hiked 9lb in the weights for a dominant success at Goodwood last week against older fillies, this may not be enough for the handicapper to get a grip on her true ability.
All of her wins to date have come over 6f, she seems versatile ground wise and is going the right way.
Udontdodou is the clear favourite for this sprint, but there is a feeling that he is at his best over 5f.
A favourite or joint favourite has won two of the last three renewals of the Scottish Sprint Cup and Kimberella, who we put forward as our lively longshot last weekend when going down by a short head at Epsom, heads the market this time.
He has only been raised 1lb for that near miss, but this looks a tougher assignment.
Judicial is one horse worth monitoring, especially if the ground remains good-to-firm at Musselburgh.
The four-year-old has won both starts on similar underfoot conditions, including when returning from a two-month break to triumph with a little in hand at Thirsk last time.
He is quirky, well drawn and runs off a 6lb higher mark here, but Judicial is far more unexposed than the lion’s share of his opposition and must have each-way claims at worst in this handicap which currently has 17 entrants.
*Money Back 2nd and 3rd to the SP favourite in any Channel 4 races with 8+ runners. Money Back 2nd if 5-7 runners. Click here for full Terms and Conditions.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
