7.50pm Kempton Tips & Betting Preview 05/09/2017

Just the seven runners for the £4,690 first prize in a race that pays out all the way down to fourth spot and will leave just three going home without some recompense. Only ten pounds cover them from top to bottom and it should be a tight run affair, so why not read on for our horse by horse race previews ahead of the 7.50pm at Kempton.

IN SUMMARY: Nezar could well prove hard to beat, hence his skinny price, but an in form CLEAR SPRING would win this head in chest Although he won’t be getting any better at his age, he is clearly well weighted – even on recent form – and with a clear run for a change today he can come home in front for trainer John Spearing and jockey Luke Morris.

1 RAZIN’ HELL – Eight career wins from 37 starts for the six-year-old gelding, but seven of those were at Southwell and the other at Ffos Las. Conditions here are likely to be a lot quicker than they are on the equitrack which is a lot deeper, and a rating of 85 requires a career best regardless (and is a stone higher than his latest turf rating). This leaves the John Balding trained horse with plenty to find in this company.

2 CLEAR SPRING – Not getting any better at the age of nine, but the handicapper has taken note of his recent efforts and dropped him in recent months and he is clearly on a winning mark now. Last time out he wasn’t disgraced when a length and three quarter fifth to Russian Realm at Haydock in what looks like a slightly better race when short of room at a crucial time. He won’t get many better chances than this to add to his career CV and stop his stable’s brief losing streak of five in the last fortnight.

3 EXCEED THE LIMIT – Robert Cowell’s four-year-old is on a losing streak of 13 now and has been dropped another two pounds after finishing fourth of five at Yarmouth last time out over a furlong shorter. Despite his trainer’s well known genius with the sprinters, even he is struggling with the son of Exceed And Excel who was rated 12 pounds higher at his peak, but doesn’t seem as happy over this trip despite a juvenile win at Fontainebleau in 2015. He has a lot to find to get involved this evening for a stable currently struggling for winners. 

4 CAPTAIN LARS – Ten wins from 49 starts is a very good return for a handicap sprinter, the last of which was at Chelmsford on the all-weather in April off a rating two pounds lower than he suffers today. Last time out he was an acceptable fifth to Desert Law at Doncaster in a Class 3 handicap off three pounds lower and with the sixth furlong within his range he won’t be far away in this line-up.

5 SECONDO – Fifteen runners without a single winner in the last two weeks for Joseph Tuite does not exactly enhance the prospects of this seven-year-old gelding who has raced three times for his new connections after joining the yard from John Hammond in France. He used to be in the care of Roger Charlton and then Robert Stephens, so he is no stranger to these shores, with wins at Salisbury, Haydock and, most recently, Wolverhampton. Sadly that was back in 2014 and a run of just the seven losses suggests that he has his issues to be so lightly raced. He is hard to fancy based on recent form and looks sure to be one of the outsiders here.

6 NEZAR – Perhaps the most in-form option here and not to be taken lightly following a win, two seconds, and a fourth in his last four outings. His win was at Wolverhampton, so the all-weather surface should not be too much of a concern – even if this is slightly different to the tapeta there. A close up half length second at Brighton last time out in a similar race indicates that he arrives here with every chance off the same rating and can get involved in the finish for the excellent Dean Ivory.

7 DUTIFUL SON – Absolutely loves it here at Kempton with four course and distance wins to his name so far. Even so, he does seem to be losing his spark with six runs without a place since his last win here at the end of March. He does run off two pounds lower here than that victory and cannot be dismissed at these weights, but others do appeal a little more in this field leaving him perhaps fighting over the minor place money.