3.50pm Leicester Tips & Betting Preview 20/07/2017

Seven furlongs here for fillies and mares and a race that has only been run the one so little to go on there. Thirteen pounds covers the entire field according to official ratings and the intrigue here is whether or not the three-year-olds can serve it up to their elders at this stage of the season. Read on for our full race preview for the 3.50pm at Leicester this afternoon.

IN SUMMARY: In a tricky looking race CHEERFILLY stands out at the odds for her in-form stable and after a comfortable win last time out. She can hold off Parlance here and bring home first prize for the Tom Dascombe stable.

1 BAHAMIAN BIRD – A decent enough filly with two wins already this season for trainer Richard Fahey, both at Catterick and both over this seven-furlong trip. As a four-year-old, she has to give weight away to the younger fillies which won’t be easy for her and a rating of 80 saw her well beaten at both York and Chester in this sort of company. Dropped two pounds by the handicapper for her last of seven at Chester in June she is still rated six pounds higher than her last winning mark and may well find this beyond her for a stable that is only hitting an 8% strike rate in recent weeks.

2 PARLANCE – Ryan Moore is back on board a strongly fancied Sir Michael Stoute horse once again, and the daughter of Invincible Spirit is officially the highest rated horse in this race by seven pounds. She rounded off her juvenile career with a third time lucky maiden win at Chelmsford over this trip before being put away for the winter, and has had the two runs this season with a fourth at Kempton and then a third to Cartographer at Newmarket when four and a quarter lengths behind the winner and three quarters of a length behind runner up Storm Cry. She did run in late to snatch third that day and may be better stepped up to a mile soon enough but has to be on everyone’s short list for such powerful connections.

3 ONE BIG SURPRISE – Jockey turned trainer Richard Hughes has been in among the winners lately and has put claimer Finley Marsh on board the five-year-old mare to take a useful seven pounds off her back. She won in her return to action at Brighton over six furlongs and was a valiant half length second to Andalucite at the same venue over this trip but she is stepping up in class off the same rating her and others appeal that little bit more at these weights.

4 CHEERFILLY – One of only two horses in the field to win last time out after scoring by three lengths in a course and distance maiden but has a lot more on her plate here for trainer Tom Dascombe. Her handicap rating of 78 seems a bit on the high side on what she has actually achieved though Paddy Piley takes five pounds off her back once again this afternoon, though she did win with a bit in hand and was eased before the line. Could well be improving and the stable are in good heart with six wins from their last thirty-two runners (19%), and a decent level stakes profit of 13.5 points which can only increase her chances here.

5 MISSISSIPPI MISS – Likely to start the outsider of this field, she may well improve for her one run this season which followed a lay-off of over eight months after winning her maiden here over six furlongs last October. She was very weak in the market at Newmarket in late June when sent off a 25/1 chance in a similar handicap before finishing a well beaten eighth of ten after pulling way too hard to give herself the remotest chance. Likely to be less buzzy now with that run under her belt she has only been dropped a pound which is far from generous, she may do better now though the Dr Jon Scargill yard are going through a quiet patch.

6 LIMELITE – Bottom weight for Richard Hannon’s daughter of Dark Angel who won a Class Five handicap at Newbury last month for her first victory on her seventh start. Although she only won by three-quarters of a length that day she did look to be idling a little in front and could be value for a little further, though a rise from the handicapper of two pounds still seems fair enough. After that win assistant trainer Tom Ward reported “Limelite had come on for Lingfield and Ryan Moore gave her a lovely ride. There’s definitely a few more in her. She’s not a bad filly and Ryan said she’d win a couple more” which has to be encouraging for her supporters and she arrives here with a solid enough chance of following up.