As most of you will know the Scoop6 is horse racings version of the Lottery – six nominated races on a Saturday plus a bonus race – and “all” you have to do is find all six winners to get your share of the main pot (or six places for the place aspect), then go after the winner of the bonus race the following week. Please note the word “share” – it’s a kitty that gets divided by the number of winners so if we all copy one set of horses we are sort of betting against each other so our suggestion is that you have a read and then decide to maybe add one or two of your own in to the mix- but then again it’s your money after all!
Do note you can bet one horse per race for a £2 stake to receive the full dividends – you can bet less and perm your selections but they multiply out accordingly – for example, one horse per race but two in the third race becomes 1 x 1 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 2 bets but 2 in each race would becomes 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 bets so do be careful of your staking!
1.20pm Ascot – Nothing is ever as it seems tough on paper this seems to be a two horse race -though it is also a sprint and things can and do happen. Muhaarar is in our view the top sprinter in the World at present though the softer going is not exactly in his favour. We feel his class will still carry him through, though if anything goes wrong Twilight Son will undoubtedly make the most of the opportunity as he attempts to extend his unbeaten run to six.
1.55pm Ascot – Hugo Palmer will be hoping Covert Love can sign off for the season with yet another win after taking the Irish Oaks and the Prix de l’Opera already this season. Trip and track look ideal making her the one to beat but if it turns in to a war of attrition the added stamina of Simple Verse could see her run on through beaten horses at the death. A controversial winner of the St Leger her stamina is not an issue and if you fancy going against the favourite she has as good a chance as any in a very competitive race.
3.05pm Ascot – The Champion Stakes looks at the mercy of John Gosden’s Jack Hobbs who would arrive here unbeaten were it not for stable mate Golden Horn who beat him in the Dante Stakes at York and then the English Derby at Epsom. He soon made up for those losses with an easy win in the Irish Derby and a pipe opener at Kempton and is easily the likeliest winner today. Racing History is the unknown factor having won all three races pretty impressively this season, but is taking a leap of faith and class but could be the dark horse to cause an upset – if there is one, of course.
3.25pm Catterick – Taking us away from the main meeting up to Yorkshire next and a fiendish looking fifteen-runner sprint handicap over the minimum trip of five furlongs. Low drawn horses have a slight advantage on soft going like today and that fact leads us to recent winner Union Rose who scored at York last time out but has been put up six pounds for that 18/1 victory. Conditions are similar here so the three year old could well follow up – or it may have been a flash in the pan and even stall three won’t save him here. Confessional has won off this rating and likes the softer going so has to be considered after finishing second on his last two attempts, and maybe today will be third time lucky?
3.30pm Stratford – Poor old Nesterenko is lumbered with top weight here for trai0ner Nicky Henderson but if he improves for his comeback run that may not be enough to stop him today. Off the track since May 2014 he returned to action at Worcester in late August and ran a blinder to finished a length and a half second to Baby Jane when running on strongly over a quarter of a mile less than he faces here, and if he improves for that run could still take all the beating this afternoon. Hassle is our second against the field and arrives here on the back of some decent placed efforts on the flat in good handicaps at the likes of Ascot and Haydock. If the six year old can transfer those efforts to hurdling this afternoon then Clive Cox will have a well weighted contender on his hands, though the fact that he is still a maiden over obstacles makes him a bit of a risky choice!
3.45pm Ascot – they would have to end with a handicap, as if the rest of the card wasn’t tricky enough! Twenty-three runners over the mile pretty much guarantees some hard luck stories but we do think outsider Fort Bastion is well weighted with the eye-catching jockey booking of Mickael Barzalona an added bonus. Trip going ands weight all look ideal and he is certainly overpriced, though we cannot be 100% confident in a field of this magnitude despite the handicap form of trainer David O’Meara. Buckstay has been put up in the weights after landing the Challenge Cup here last time out right on the line over seven furlongs but the added distance here may bring the necessary improvement and he seems sure tov go close under jockey Jim Crowley.
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