The William Hill Great St Wilfrid Handicap at Ripon tomorrow (3.20 p.m.) is always a difficult puzzle for punters to unravel. Run over six furlongs for a first prize of more than £50,000, a field of 19 runners has been declared.
With its unusual undulations on the sprint course, Ripon is a specialist track which means that it is an advantage to have strong course and distance form. The trouble is that so many of these experienced sprinters have just that so it does not narrow the field down by that much.
Northern trainers have a superb record in the race too but, once again, they are extremely well represented in the race tomorrow and so this fact is not a huge help either in the search to find the winner.
Summerghand, ten years young and who has 101 races under his belt, is as tough as teak and is running for the third time in just over three weeks. David O’Meara’s gelding was second In this race last year despite running off a mark 8 lbs higher than he does tomorrow.
That means he might well win tomorrow for the first time in nearly a year but he has not gone unnoticed in the market and is currently forecast to go off favourite at 7-1 or shorter. Despite being a confirmed member of the Summerghand fan club, I can’t tip him at those odds in such a competitive contest even though he probably has a favourable draw in stall 18.
Instead I am going to put up another horse who ran well in this race last year and that is Adrian Paul Keatley’s unusually-named runner WOBWOBWOB. This six-year-old blazed a trail on the near side of the track 12 months ago before finishing third, beaten by two horses racing on the far side. As so often happens in this race, the field had split into two main groups.
Wobwobwob looks to have been targeted at this race once again and, just as last year, he ran well at Glorious Goodwood before heading to Ripon. He will race off a mark of 89 tomorrow, 2 lbs more than 12 months ago.
Back Wobwobwob each way at 10-1 with Sky Bet offering an enticing seven places and then hope that the horse’s jockey P.J. McDonald fires his mount out quickly from berth 15 so that Wobwobwob can race prominently again tomorrow.
The dangers in the field include four horses from the Richard Fahey yard including top weight Ramazan, who would probably prefer softer ground, and Dare To Hope, the mount of stable jockey Oisin Orr.
The Group 2 BetVictor Hungerford Stakes over seven furlongs at Newbury tomorrow (3.35 p.m.) has only attracted a field of only seven runners which makes each way betting unattractive with most bookies offering just two places. Trainer Harry Charlton’s three-year-old colt Kikkuli is the top-rated horse in the race on official figures and he is at the top of the market too.
However, at the prices, I prefer to back handler Richard Hannon’s WITCH HUNTER, who won this race a year ago but who has not been back to the winners’ enclose since then despite running some good races in defeat this season. Jamie Spencer, who has won on the five-year-old gelding before, takes the ride so back Witch Hunter 2 points win with many of the bookmakers offering odds of 5-1.
York’s Ebor meeting begins on Wednesday and lasts for four days. I have already put up two bets for this meeting in the form of Ghostwriter for the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes on Wednesday and Naqeeb in the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap a week tomorrow.
With a favourable weather forecast, both horses look likely to get their preferred fast ground at York which is a good starting point. I will be back a week today with some tips for the last two days of this glorious advertisement for horse racing at its best.
Pending:
1 point each way Wobwobwob at 10-1 for the Great St Wilfred Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 7 places.
2 points win Witch Hunter at 5-1 for the Hungerford Stakes.
1 point each way Ghostwriter at 20-1 for the Juddmonte Stakes, paying 1/5th odds, 3 places.
1 point each way Naqeeb at 16-1 for the Ebor Handicap, paying 1/5th odds, 5 places.
Last weekend: – 2 points.
1 point each way Bless Him at 12-1 for the Shergar Cup Mile, paying 1/5th odds, 4 places. Unplaced. – 2 points.
2024 flat season running total + 6.4 points.
2023-4 jumps season: + 42.01 points on all tips.
2023 flat season: – 48.22 points on all tips.
2022-3 jumps season: + 54.3 points on all tips.
My gambling record for the past eight years: I have made a profit in 15 of the past 17 seasons to recommended bets. To a 1 point level stake over this period, the overall profit of has been 517 points. All bets are either 1 point each way or 2 points win (a ‘point’ is your chosen regular stake).
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