3.45pm Catterick Tips & Betting Preview 11/05/2017

James Boyle

Published: May 10, 2017

Having developed an interest in racing whilst in college some years ago, James has worked in many areas of the industry, including a stint hiding his face on radio! From 2008 until 2017, he ran a successful tipping service and has had shares in numerous horses including the wonderful Fast Shot. Unsurprisingly given some of the horses he has bought shares in, his punting passions lie in sprint handicaps on both the turf and All-Weather surfaces!

A total prize of £6,500 is up for winning in this fillies-only 7f handicap and it has attracted a solid field of 8 runners. Read on for our full betting tips and runner by runner guide.

IN SUMMARY: Bahamian Bird could have the scope to improve further as a 7f performer this season but is opposed with the James Tate trained CORONATION DAY. The daughter of Bahamian Bounty bumped into a live one at Brighton on her return to action but that form was franked subsequently and looks rock-solid. This race could turn out to be easier and she will strip fitter for having had the run as well. Of the remainder, Lucky Violet has the ability to get involved if she’s ready to go after a break, but her sharpness is a worry.

1 COURIER – 5-year-old mare who notched up a quickfire hat-trick of front-running wins last August over 6f (twice) & 7f, but only managed to show her form once in 5 runs since then when second of 9 at Hamilton (6f, Heavy) in September. Sent off at 40/1 on her seasonal return at Newcastle (7f, Std) but even accounting for artificial surfaces not being her optimum, the forthcoming performance was poor. She has many questions to answer at present and is best left alone until showing that some spark remains in the locker.

2 CORONATION DAY – Unexposed 4-year-old filly who has 3 wins and 3 seconds from 9 career outings with one of those successes coming over course & distance on fast ground, so conditions will not be an issue whatsoever. She made her reappearance at Brighton (7f, Good-to-Firm) a couple of weeks ago and finished second of 7 behind Ice Age, form that took a boost with the winner going close in a quality handicap at Goodwood. James Tate’s charge is entitled to come on for her run and makes the shortlist.

3 STOSUR – Exposed 6-year-old mare with 49 starts under her belt already and only 5 of those have yielded wins, the last three by a neck or less. She didn’t run badly at Nottingham (1m ½f, Good-to-Firm) last week when coming back from a break, finishing third but ultimately no match for a couple of progressive sorts from powerful yards. This will be easier but she’s as high in the weights as she’d want to be and faces competition for the lead as well. That’s not ideal, with all of her wins so far coming from near the front-end.

4 SEXY LEGS – Formerly owned by Coolmore and trained by David Wachman in Ireland but never managed to live up to her juvenile billing having been joint-favourite for the 2014 Albany (Group 3) at Royal Ascot. Still went on to show lots of solid form in defeat but hasn’t been seen since May of 2015 and it’s hard to know what to expect on this debut for Lucinda Egerton. A watching brief is recommended for now.

5 LUCKY VIOLET – Ended last season in winning form by breaking her flat maiden at the sixth attempt when scoring at Musselburgh (7f, Good) and did it in good style, beating Mustique by over 2-lengths. A 6lb rise for that seems fully merited and she is a filly with the cruising speed required to be fully effective on a track like this, but it is her first run for 279 days and she could be vulnerable to race-fit rivals. Opposed.

6 BAHAMIAN BIRD – Returned better than ever last month when winning first time up over C&D on similarly fast ground and has only had 7 goes at this trip so can’t be market down as exposed. Ran to a similar level a couple of weeks ago at Doncaster (7f, Good-to-Firm) off 4lbs higher, only beaten a length and a neck into fourth place, and has to be a contender for the win again. She’s worthy of consideration on the shortlist.

7 ALPINE DREAM – Another unexposed 4-year-old and she looked to find 6f on fast ground too sharp on her comeback at Thirsk three weeks ago. Stepping up to this 7f trip is somewhat of an unknown with all of her best form occurring at the shorter sprinting distances and it’s tough to be confident on breeding that she will live up to the visual impression created at Thirsk. The percentage call is to oppose this time.

8 BE ROYALE – The most exposed runner in the field with 54 racecourse outings to date and has got 6 wins from those. The latest came at Pontefract (6f, Good-to-Firm) in August and she has now come down to a rating 1lb below that winning mark. On that score, a case can be made but she has never won above Class 5 level and would appear to be somewhat out of her depth against a few of these rivals.