Boxing Day Tips: Owen Goulding fancies 25-1 & 16-1 outsiders to run a huge race 🎄

We’re on the cusp of the most magical time of the year, Christmas! I’m looking forward to spending time with my family, eating an unholy amount of food, and watching Chantry House bolt up in the King George! Boxing Day sports are perhaps the best of the year and horse racing once again puts on a bonanza.

Kempton‘s action leads the way, but Ireland also plays host to plenty of Grade 1 races, while Wetherby has the always competitive Rowland Meyrick. We’ll have horse racing tips for all the action, but I’m hoping to end the year right with a pair of big-priced winners. You can find all my analysis below!

2.10 Wetherby – William Hill Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase

The more I look at the Rowland Meyrick, the more perplexed I become at the price of Takingrisks (25-1). Nicky Richards has his horses firing as we head into the Christmas period and this spritely twelve-year-old will absolutely relish this test.

The forecast at Wetherby over Christmas is bleak, but that’s just what he needs to show his best. This veteran is a mud lover, winning a Listed handicap at Doncaster in January on softer ground. That victory came off a rating of 146 and he’ll compete today off 145, so he’s clearly on an exploitable rating.

He’s fallen to that mark as a result of two below par efforts this season, but excuses can be made. A run over hurdles on seasonal debut was seemingly for fitness purposes and his latest effort in the Rehearsal was on ground that was perhaps too firm for him these days. Richards now fits the blinkers and if they have a positive effect, his current rating will be no barrier to success.

3.40 Kempton – Ladbrokes We Play Together Handicap Hurdle

Kempton has been a very happy hunting ground for Commanche Red (16-1), who has form figures of 113P2 at the venue. Chris Gordon’s eight-year-old was rated 150 at his peak over fences and although his stock has somewhat dropped since that assessment, he’s now on a thoroughly dangerous mark as a result.

Scoring at Plumpton in April off a rating of 127, he’s just a pound above that mark at present. He ran far better than the bare result suggests at Plumpton on seasonal return too, only weakening after the last, shaping as though the run was needed, and his inconsistent record fresh would back up that theory.

He seems best on a firmer surface, so current conditions are perfect, and he’ll be partnered Brendan Powell, whose stock has risen significantly this year. With three places on offer in this contest, I really think the market has overlooked his sizeable chances.

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