4.50pm Pontefract Tips & Betting Preview 23/10/2017

4.50pm Pontefract tips for Monday’s Class 2 race. Only a small field but a cracking little contest with stamina to the forefront in these conditions. Read on for our free betting tips, predictions and analysis.

IN SUMMARY: MINOTAUR should strip fitter for his reappearance at Leicester, staying on well from the back of the field over shorter. This is a relatively uncompetitive field so with no issues over conditions, he is the one they all have to beat. Dominating looks the biggest danger as he should get a soft lead, the improving three-year-old handles the conditions well. Suegioo is the only other one to get any sort of consideration, but he has looked a shadow of his old self for a long time now.

1 MINOTAUR – Shaped well a fortnight ago on his return to action at Leicester. He looked in need of the race, keeping on from the back over a mile and a half. He stays further over hurdles, with his official rating very much making him the one to beat under conditions he handles.

2 SUEGIOO – Formerly a top notch handicapper, he has not shown anything close to his best for a number of years. A stone and a half below his best these days, he showed more last time out but needs to be much closer to his best to win this.

3 TUSCAN GOLD –  Dour stayer who has shown plenty of his best form at this track in the past. He handles soft ground but is more than two stone short of what is required to win this. The change of headgear needs to work a miracle.

4 LA FRITILLAIRE – Another who has run some of her best races at this track. Soft ground is no concern but her general level of form is a long way below what she is going to have to produce to trouble the principals.

5 DOMINATING – Progressed well this season as he has stepped up in trip, promising to stay this new distance. The three-year-old weight allowance makes him the biggest danger to the selection, with him likely to set his own fractions in front.