No tips - Nov 25th

There is NH racing today at Lingfield and Sedgefield.

After the relative quality of yesterday, it’s back down to earth with a bump today, with a couple of decidedly moderate cards…

The racing at Sedgefield is so poor, I abandoned it after a cursory glance through the runners (the highest rated horse running there today, is rated 101 – which indicates how desperate it is…)

In truth, Lingfield isn’t a whole lot better – but there are at least two or three handicaps, of minor interest…

The first of those is at 1:00 – and I would have tipped Strange Bird, if the bookmakers had played ball…

Betfair was telling me that this horse should be around 8/1 – but the bookmakers weren’t offering above 6/1 (I don’t include Sporting Bet).

That’s 25% shy of the price I want – which I think is just too much…

Strange Bird was a successful tip for us last season, when she absolutely dotted up in the mud at Plumpton.

She was raised 14lb for that win, which was a little harsh – but 2 subsequent defeats have seen her mark drop by 4lb.

I think there were legitimate excuses for both of those loses.

In each case she was running over a trip of 3m3f and appeared not to get home – whilst the former race was run on good to soft ground (and she is more effective on heavy); and the latter was her seasonal debut…

She is dropped back in trip to 2m4f today – and that is a slight concern. I would have preferred to see her racing over 3 miles.

She is also facing fences for the first time in public – though that is less of a concern, as she competed in numerous PTPs when she was younger.

Clearly she is not bomb proof – but against rivals whose ability range between limited and non existent, she has to have a fighting chance…

If she does come up short, then I would expect Ball Hopper to be the one to take advantage – unless Sand Artist shows something he’s not done previously (which is always a possibility for a horse in the care of Venetia).

In the handicap hurdle at 1:30, I thought The Game is A Foot looked quite interesting – at a price (he’s generally 11/1).

He was well supported last time, on his seasonal debut – but failed to deliver.

He certainly has form from last season,which suggests that he is reasonably handicapped – and he won’t have an issues with todays ground.

I would very much like to take on Southway Star in the handicap chase at 2:00 – the question is, with what…?

She is chasing a 4 timer today – but this will be her fourth run in under 3 weeks. There has to be a chance that will catch her out and she is no betting proposition at 4/6.

Initially I thought Browns Brook might be the one to oppose her with – but now I’m not so sure…

The trouble is, that whilst the other 2 runners are potentially very well handicapped, they both have big question marks against them.

Gentle George has a near 600 day absence to overcome – whilst Arbeo has been shockingly out of form.

As a consequence, it would be difficult to tip any of the Southway Stars 3 rivals – but I still think one of them will beat her !

Here’s hoping you have a great day, if you do get involved.

TVB.