The ‘Moore’ the merrier for this Weekend’s Racing Tips

With Tom away on holiday, he has left this weekend’s column in the trusty hands of Betting Directory’s very own tipsters, who, on the past two occasions of standing in for him have shown a profit. Here’s hoping to a hat trick of winning tips to continue the column’s good run of form of late ahead of Tom taking over the reigns again for what promises to be a cracking week of Racing starting next Saturday with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot followed by the Galway Festival and Glorious Goodwood which get underway a few days later.

Whilst Tom and Lord Cultech slap on the Ambre Solaire aboard their Sun Seeker on the French Riviera, the Bull Dog editor has to settle for a visit to the Burnley branch of ‘Tan-Tastic’ amidst trying to find a few winners for the ever growing followers of this column.

Newbury’s live Channel 4 card on Saturday looks as good a place as any to start to try and get amongst the winners. The feature race at the Berkshire track is the 3:20, Weatherbys Super Sprint, a race exclusively for two year olds. Finding the winner of any juvenile event is always a tough assignment and the Super Sprint is no different, especially given that all of the 25 declared runners entered for Saturday’s renewal are entitled to further improvement. However, it may pay to side with Richard Hannon, a trainer who has dominated this race down the years and whose two year olds have been in nothing short of exceptional form this season.

Hannon has accounted for seven of the 18 winners of this race since it was first run in 1991 and so far in 2010, he boasts a 28% strike with his two year olds and a quid on them all would have seen you £47 in profit! Five entries in the Super Sprint suggest that the Marlborough based trainer has every intention of adding to that tally and judging by the booking of Champion Jockey Ryan Moore, Reckless Reward looks to be the stable’s best hope and at 5/1 with William Hill looks a solid bet.

His second last time out behind Approve in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot gives Recklees Reward the best piece of form of any of the other runners in the race by some distance and a repeat of that effort should be enough to see this son of former top classs sprinter, Choisir, take all the beating.

Earlier in the day at Newbury, the Group Three Shadwell Stakes at 2:15 should present the perfect opportunity for a horse Tom tipped up in the Golden Jubilee Stakes a few weeks ago, High Standing, to make a return to winning ways. Eased right down when beaten at Ascot, this Willie Haggas trained five year old had been putting in consistently good efforts in Group company prior to that occasion and there is no reason why he shouldn’t bounce back to that level of form in the exact same race he won 12 months ago. The biggest danger comes from the Henry Candy trained Markab who put in a great effort to finish second to Equiano over 5f in the King’s Stand Stakes last time out, however, this seven year does have something to find on form with High Standing over today’s extended trip. What’s more Ryan Moore is doing the steering on the selection and the fact that he’s finished first on four of the five occasions he’s ridden the gelding only adds further reason to take advantage of the 11/4 on offer with William Hill.

Ryan Moore takes the ride on our final selection and subsequently, all three of our tips for the weekend, and that is nothing more than pure coincidence but we are not going to let this deter us from hopefully backing the winner of the Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Sunday. Moore teams up with Ed Dunlop to ride Epsom Oaks winner, Snow Fairy, in the Irish Classic and both will be hoping to join an elite group who have managed dual Oaks successes. Sunday will be the first time Snow Fairy has run since her Epsom win in June but the manner of her victory that day suggested their could be more to come from the filly and she is well worth siding with to go down in the record books alongside the likes of the great Ouija Board who managed the feat for the same trainer in 2004.

Despite a slow start to her career, which even included a run in handicap company as a two year old, Snow Fairy looks to have really improved for her two winning starts as a three year old and whilst several of Sunday’s rivals are out to reverse the Epsom form with the benefit of an additional run, it is sometimes worth sticking with proven class rather than hoping for expected improvement to bear fruition, which is our case for backing Snow Fairy ahead of any of the other fillies in this race and the 4/1 on offer with Blue Square makes plenty of appeal.

Good Luck

Weekend Tips
2:15 Newbury, Shadwell Stakes – High Standing (win) @ 11/4 with William Hill
3:30 Newbury, Weatherbys Super Sprint – Reckless Reward (win) @ 5/1 with William Hill
3:40 Curragh (Sunday) Darley Irish Oaks – Snow Fairy (win) @ 4/1 with Blue Square