Horse Racing Tips on Sunday, March 6
There are just the two meetings taking place across Britain on Sunday, March 6th with the weekend action coming from Huntingdon and Sedgefield. Our editor has picked out the best bets across the cards which make up our Sunday Lucky 15.
Patagonia (1:30 Sedgefield)
Three time-runner up Where’s Hector and recent second-placed Golfe Clair will be expected to fight out the finish in this novices’ hurdle, however, there were some encouraging signs from PATAGONIA on stable and hurdling debut and whilst he will have to step up on that course and distance fourth, the five-year-old represents some value in the market.
Patagonia was sent off 18/1 back in December and whilst he was 15l behind the three in front that day, Oliver Greenall’s charge travelled well turning for home before the lack of a recent run clearly took its toll in the prevailing conditions.
Sunday’s contest appears to be significantly weaker in comparison to the race Patagonia lined up in back in December and with some question marks surrounding the likely market leaders, the five-year-old should strip fitter for that initial outing and will be primed to go close this weekend for his in-form yard.
The Paddy Pie (3:13 Sedgefield)
Four of the five-strong field are course regulars at Sedgefield and perhaps the safest option out of them is THE PADDY PIE who remains a consistent sort over the larger obstacles and whilst he only has three wins over fences to his name, there’s every chance he can return to winning ways at a track he generally performs well at.
Sue Smith’s charge went close on his penultimate start at Wetherby over 2m4f, staying on determinedly in the closing stages to challenge eventual winner Mr Whipped and pulling 10l clear of his nearest pursuer.
The nine-year-old was then a shade disappointing when upped in trip to 3miles on his latest start at Catterick where he could never land a telling blow under jockey Sean Quinlan.
A drop back down in trip on Sunday should suit The Paddy Pie and although he is an infrequent winner, he receives plenty of weight from his main rivals and is more than capable of winning from his current mark.
Faire Part Sivola (3:48 Sedgefield)
Harry Whittington is a rare visitor to Southwell on Sunday and the Oxfordshire handler will be expecting a return to form from FAIRE PART SIVOLA who is the trainer’s only runner on Sunday’s seven-race card.
The seven-year-old made an immediate impact on stable debut back in October having joined from Lucinda Russell’s yard, striding clear off a mark of 121 in the hands of Daryl Jacob to run out a comfortable winner in class 4 company at Ffos Las by 15l.
That wide-margin success saw Harry Whittington’s charge step up in class and although he has failed to return to the winner’s enclosure in four subsequent starts, Faire Part Sivola returns to Class 4 company on Sunday and is back down to his last winning mark.
The yard has a healthy 36% strike rate at the County Durham track and connections will be confident the seven-year-old can get back to winning ways with jockey Brian Hughes doing the steering.
Now Is The Winter (4:40 Huntingdon)
It’s safe to say NOW IS THE WINTER has had an interrupted career since landing a Stratford bumper back in March 2019, only appearing on the track seven times since that taking debut run.
The lowly rated eight-year-old returned this campaign in January and although Ben Pauling’s charge showed little on seasonal reappearance at Doncaster, Now Is Winter certainly caught the eye when finishing a clear second over 3m3f at Sedgefield just last month.
Now Is Winter did remarkably well to finish as close to the eventual winner Atomic Angel as he did considering the eight-year-old made some costly errors towards the closing stages of the contest and whilst he will have to brush up his jumping technique on Sunday, Ben Pauling’s charge clearly made a huge step in the right direction and was still full of running come the winning post.
This Class 5 handicap won’t take a great deal of winning and despite not being one for maximum faith, he is more interesting than others in this contest and can hopefully build on that encouraging runner-up effort at Sedgefield with jockey Lilly Pinchin claiming a handy 5lb.