Seven contenders for the Gay, Eve and Tim Sheppard Memorial Cup and all in with chances in this competitive Class 3 contest. Our race preview betting tips foresee a bounce back to form for one of the outsiders at a tasty Each Way price.
IN SUMMARY: Somchine has been in good in recent months and will appeal to many after his clearcut 2m success at Southwell eight days ago but, to a certain extent at least, that race fell apart and he could be worth opposing under a penalty here. Walden Prince made a very pleasing return to action when second at Aintree recently and is considered by he may find the ground here too taxing and the value lies with MONKEY KINGDOM (8/1 Each Way), who certainly didn’t run badly when pulled up in a strongly run 3m1f event on his latest outing and seems best suited by about 2m4f on slow ground.
1 Walden Prince – Made very good progress after joining David Bridgwater last summer, winning four times at around 2m, and returned from absence with another career-best performance when second at Aintree (2m, good to soft) this month; worth another crack at this sort of trip but today’s slower ground is probably not ideal.
2 Somchine – Consistent this season and produced a good performance to score by 9l at Southwell (2m, soft) eight days ago; will be fine over today’s longer trip and is expected to give another good account but his 7lb penalty might leave him vulnerable in this stronger race.
3 Monkey Kingdom – Pulled up over 3m1f at Aintree 18 days ago but ran well to a point that day and wasn’t the only one who got tired in a race that developed into a stamina test; ran well when placed there (2m4f, good) two starts ago and might be able to better that performance on the slower ground here.
4 Notarfbad – Now 10lb lower than when making all in a Listed handicap at Newton Abbot (2m5f, good) in summer 2014 but became disappointing afterwards and has been off since a poor performance in January 2015; will be fine on today’s ground but others have much less to prove.
5 Hepijeu – Didn’t looked wildly enthusiastic when a well-beaten fourth over C&D last month and a change of headgear failed to rev him up at Aintree on latest outing; been given a decent chance by the handicapper but needs to show a lot more zest this time and would prefer better ground.
6 One For The Boss – Returned to form when winning four-runner contest easily at Newton Abbot (2m5f, good to soft) this month but the favourite flopped that day and the other two finished tired after taking each other on; consequently, the value of the form can be questioned and his subsequent 13lb hike up the weights could prove very tough to swallow.
7 Cold Knight – Former pointer/hunter chaser who gained a hard-fought win over C&D (good) when back in a handicap chase last month; claims on that evidence but might find it harder to dominate this field from the front and was tailed off at Huntingdon a fortnight later.
myracing Forecast Prices: 100/30 Walden Prince, 7/2 One For The Boss, 4/1 Somchine, 7/1 Cold Knight, 8/1 Monkey Kingdom, Hepijeu, 10/1 Notarfbad