There’s three afternoon meetings to choose from for our placepot picks, with Newbury and Sedgefield over the sticks, alongside Lingfield’s all-weather card. Wolverhampton and Dundalk also host their enticing Friday evening meetings, but preference is for Newbury’s afternoon card, as there looks to be plenty of class on offer.
There are some decent field sizes and as it looks set to be the most popular meeting of the day, it looks sure to provide the biggest dividend to have a crack at.
Leg One: Champagne Express (1)
Barry Geraghty travels across the Irish Sea to partner Champagne Express in our opener and it could be worth siding with the improving five-year-old. He landed his debut under rules in fine fashion, when sticking on gamely to come out on top when battling with subsequent impressive winner King’s Oddyssey. The pair pulled well clear of two other subsequent winners and with the form looking really strong, he could be the value here. He is sure to improve under the tutelage of Nicky Henderson and the son of Kalinisi looks set for big things, so it would be somewhat surprising if he could not make the frame this afternoon.
Leg Two: Bob Tucker (6)
Charlie Longsdon has endured a difficult spell of late, but his last two runners have suggested he may be coming back into some sort of form, so this means we can get behind Bob Tucker with a degree of confidence this afternoon. The eight-year-old disappointed last time out, but he had excuses after a couple of mistakes severely harmed his chances. It is too early to write him off and the promise he showed on his two previous efforts make him a real player, should he bounce back to form. Noel Fehily gets back on-board the gelding and he should go close to making the front three.
Leg Three: Crack of Thunder (10)
We’re sticking with the Longsdon and Fehily combination in leg three, as the pair team up with Crack of Thunder who looks an intriguing contender, now fitted with first-time cheekpieces. He has been keeping good company and his second to subsequent Grad Two winner Ordo Ab Chao looks even better now. His next two runs have showed signs of promise without being overly obvious, and this means he is still a decent price this afternoon. He should be able to mount a strong challenge off a fair looking mark and it would be no surprise to see him make the frame at an attractive each-way price.
Leg Four – Letbeso (7)
This Peter Bowen-trained 7 year old is having a good time of it lately and comes to Newbury in search of a hat-trick following wins at Ffos Las and Chepstow. That last run was over the same trip as today in trickier conditions and he finished a length clear of second and 16 clear of third. He’s been in the frame for every one of his chase starts so is a good shout to get a place here.
Leg Five – Minella Present (4)
Neil Mulholland’s Minella Present has a 50% strike rate over hurdles and is lightly raced so should have everything to give here. He was pulled up with Ruby Walsh on board last time out at Ascot, but the drop in trip and slightly more favourable conditions should suit. He was 12 lengths behind John Ferguson’s Parlour Games back in November and should be in with a shout against lesser opposition here. AP McCoy is booked for the ride today.
Leg Six – Harbour Court (1)
Harbour Court wasn’t too far away in the Foxhunter chase at Cheltenham last march and that’s by far the most convincing form on offer here. The run following that didn’t inspire a lot of confidence and he hasn’t been raced since so also has a lengthy break to overcome here. If he can replicate his Foxhunter form, he will win this with ease, but we only need him to finish in teh frame for us to land the placepot!