4.35pm Kempton tips for Monday’s Class Three race. A decent twelve horse field are due to line-up to compete for the £12,000 in total prize money in what should be an interesting race on the polytrack. Read on for our free betting tips, predictions and analysis.
IN SUMMARY: It is hard to look past BARRINGTON (Each Way) as the sensible option as Charlie Hills switches him to the polytrack after a poor run on soft ground at Ascot. He hardly looks overburdened at these weights and has placed in decent enough company to suggest this is not beyond him, and at an each-way price he ought to prove very difficult to keep out of the frame.
1 BARRACUDA BOY – Marjorie Fife’s seven-year0old finished last of seven at Yarmouth last month but has to race off four pounds higher now on the polytrack. He has won off higher ratings but not in some time now and may find top weight beyond him today.
2 NAADIRR – Jamie Spencer rides for Kevin Ryan and the gelded son of Oasis Dream looks pretty interesting at these weights. He has won off ratings as much as a stone above this but not since July 2016, though he is dropped in class here after competing at a much higher level and ought to get involved.
3 BLAINE – Brain Barr’s gelding has been a bit in and out lately but can easily be forgiven finishing last on heavy going at Ascot last time and should be far happier on this surface. He has won at Group Two level albeit five years ago and also scored in May and off this mark has every chance if he can bounce back to anything like his best.
4 TROPICS – Hard to make any case for him these days and his best efforts seem well and truly behind him now. Dean Ivory puts the hood back on for the first time since May but they didn’t work miracles then either, and sadly he seems to be heading off to a well-deserved retirement at the age of nine.
5 SIGN OF THE KODIAC – Possibly well handicapped and at the age of four we may not have seen the best of him yet. He did fail to take advantage of a good draw when only sixth at Chester last month and needs to bounce back from that but isn’t out of this by any means if he can repeat his March win when he accounted for Gordon Lord Byron by half a length at Dundalk.
6 STELLARTA – She just loves it here with three course and distance wins to her name and four places from nine starts and she should put in another big effort under Tom Marquand. This would still be a career best to win off this mark but she has placed off of higher and could well challenge near the finish.
7 BARRINGTON – Sent off at 50/1 last time out at Ascot when the soft going was all against him, the Charlie Hills trained son of Casamento has placed in decent enough races off higher marks with a half-length third at Bath in July and if he handles the polytrack as expected, he has an excellent chance at the weights this afternoon.
8 GENTLEMAN – Sixteen races now since his last win back in 2016 but he has got a course and distance win to his name from March last year. The hood is back on again this afternoon but he has been off the track since early April and this looks a big ask on his first run since.
9 GOODWOOD CRUSADER – Three wins in a row at Brighton, Leicester, and Newmarket saw his handicap mark put up into the 90’s and he has certainly suffered in three starts since with a five lengths plus seventh of ten at Ascot last time out. He does drop in class here off a lower mark but may need a few pounds less before he gets involved in a finish again.
10 JAYWALKER – Possibly well weighted if his third to Avon Breeze last time out at Ripon when beaten just a length at the line after being caught close home after leading a furlong out. If he could be guaranteed to repeat that effort he would go close but his earlier form suggests that is sadly not guaranteed.
11 LIGHTNING CHARLIE – Four wins from his twenty-six starts but he was put up to a rating of 92 after winning at Ascot in July but may have found the softer going against him as well, and he could do better not the polytrack. Back in the 80’s if only just, he runs off 89 today and may well do a little better.
12 SEEKING MAGIC – The Clive Cox horses are in great form with a 23% strike rate but that may not be quite enough to see Ryan Tate get the nine-year-old home in front today. He has won off higher and age appears to be kind to him with a July win at Nottingham off two pounds lower but others do appeal slightly more in this field.