Meetings from Market Rasen, Wetherby, Exeter and Clonmel take place in Britain and Ireland on Tuesday and make up our editor’s 699/1 Lucky 15 top tips.
Dr Sanderson 2.26 Wetherby
In his prime DR SANDERSON was a fairly useful chaser for Paul Nicholls and would have little trouble winning a race like this. Those days maybe gone, but some of the ability remains. He’s certainly not lost his winning appetite having taken advantage of lowly marks at Ayr and Doncaster recently registering back-to-back wins.
He showed great determination and toughness to win those races, and on that evidence, he might just have the steel to worry a few of these inconsistent and out of form rivals out of it.
He’s down in class and will find things easier than his last run when registering a good third at Sedgefield. At the likely decent odds, he’s a more-than-speculative selection.
Morning Spirit 3.01 Exeter
Jonjo O’Neill Snr’s likeable sort MORNING SPIRIT was going along very nicely when coming to grief last time out at this venue. If that episode has not taken its toll he’s more than capable of taking this event at the main expense of the consistent Equus Dreamer who certainly has it in him to take a race like this.
Our selection is on a handy enough mark here based on past exploits and should go close in an open renewal.
Other likely market principal Moroder is looking for a four-timer, however, he’s been raised 6lb for his latest run which is risky enough given he’s yet to go over a distance this far.
One For Billy 3.11 Wetherby
ONE FOR BILLY catches the eye here as one potentially very well-treated runner on his old form. He stopped the rot last time after a series of poor runs finishing third at Market Rasen.
That signalled a sign of returning to form and a further drop of 1lb can only help his cause here. He faces a host of inconsistent rivals here and if he can get back anywhere near the form he has shown previously he will be take all the beating off this mark.
We’ll take a chance that he will for the Skelton team.
One True King 3.20 Market Rasen
Sixth of eight in a handicap last time doesn’t make for particularly great reading for ONE TRUE KING, however, a switch back to hurdles could be just the trick for Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge.
A case can be made for nearly all of these, but we’ll take a chance with the selection, if he can recapture his mojo over the smaller obstacles he rates a big danger to the top two or three in the market on his form back at Sandown in December.
Royal Pretender rates a major danger for Alan king, he’s an uber-consistent type with a solid profile for a race like this.