UK Horse Racing Tips

Richard Hannon is typically a keen supporter of Monday evening meetings at Windsor, as was his father, Richard Snr., and has a 20% strike rate at the Berkshire course so far this season. On Monday evening, he runs just one, Anchises, who was surprising turned over at odds of 1/2 in a run-of-the-mill maiden at Ffos Las last month, but looks to have been found a decent opportunity to make amends in the closing Sky Bet Racing Cash Out Novice Stakes (8.00).

The Choisir colt steps up to a mile and a quarter for the first time, but has plenty of stamina in the bottom half of his pedigree – being out of a mare by the top middle distance sire Montjeu – and looks a decent bet to fulfil the promise of his debut run at Newmarket in June. On that occasion, Achises belied odds of 50/1 to finish third of 14, beaten 4 lengths, behind Red Starlight in a better novice stakes race than this one. That form looks fair enough in the context of this race, with the second, Auxerre, winning a small race at Haydock by 5 lengths.

Petrastar was beaten by the minimum margin in a maiden over course and distance on his racecourse debut four weeks ago, but the pick of the opposition could be the beautifully bred Midi, who never recovered from missing the break when down the field

in a competitive Newmarket maiden last autumn and has had a wind operation in the interim. Nevertheless, Achises has plenty of scope for improvement and can put his experience to good use.

Selection: Windsor 8.00 Anchises to win 11/4

Introduction

If ever a name for a racehorse was more appropriate, we’ve yet to see it. Best Mate was an Irish-bred racehorse that went on to be one of the most impressive horses of its generation. With three wins at the Cheltenham Golf Cup, it’s a horse that holds a near-royal presence in the industry. Indeed, the horse was so beloved that at the time of its passing it got front page treatment!

Racking up an incredible 14 wins across 22 races, it claimed an armada of trophy wins to mark one of the most impressive careers in horse racing history.

Career Summary

Owned by Jim Lewis and trained by the brilliant Henrietta Knight, Best Mate roared onto the scene with a hat-trick of wins at the Cheltenham Golf Cup from 2002-2004. Jim Culloty was the jockey at the time, and in doing so matched the incredible record of Arkle. It also followed this up with wins at tournaments such as the King George VI Chase and the Ericsson Chase.

Achievements & Highlights

Incredibly, Best Mate treated its jockey like a best friend would – it never let them down. By never falling at a fence or a hurdle, it came 1^st in 14 of its races and 2^nd in 7 of them! In fact, the last race the horse ran in was the only that it pulled up in – and this came shortly before its highly publicized and tragic death.

It died on 1^st November, 2005, when it died of a heart attack after jockey Paul Carberry pulled it up at the Haddon Gold Cup. It was posthumously added to the Cheltenham Hall of Fame alongside Desert Orchid.

Wins – Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (2000), November Novices’ Chase (2000), Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase (2001), Haldon Gold Cup (2001), Cheltenham Gold Cup (2002, 2003, 2004), Peterborough Chase (2002), King George VI Chase (2002), Ericsson Chase (2003)

Associations – Jim Lewis, Jim Culloty and Henrietta Knight.

Earnings – Over £1m.

Introduction

To many, the name Postponed is a name that rings as one of the finest horses in British racing at this moment in time. a serial winner from 2014-2016, this is a horse that set an immediate tone in a career that has been incredibly impressive so far. Known for its powerful stride and incredible concentration, it managed to become a horse that was accustomed to smashing records and really getting people to notice.

With the biggest ever victory at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, it set the tone earl in its racing career as a beast that won big.

Career Summary

While it’s now retired – having retired in May of 2017 – the horse went through an incredible two-year spell. In that period of time, it won 9 of 20 races and had taken just shy of £5m in prize money across that time. with wins in Dubai’s various trophies as well as the likes of the Coronation Cup, this is a horse that experienced – and won – many different trophies. With so much to win across the world, though, it’s dominance of both Dubai-based racing and British racing is something to behold.

From that first big win at the Glasgow Stakes in 2014 to the final win at the International Stakes in 2016, this is a horse that managed to set the tone and standard for the modern requirements. With so much competition and challenge in racing today, the success of Postponed is even more impressive.

Achievements & Highlights

Wins – Glasgow Stakes (2014), Great Voltigeur Stakes (2014), King George VI & Q. Elizabeth Stakes (2015), Prix Foy (2015), Dubai City of Gold (2016), Dubai Sheema Classic (2016), Coronation Cup (2016), International Stakes (2016)

Associations – Mohammed Al Maktoum, Luca Cumani, Roger Varian, St Albans Bloodstock.

Earnings – £4.95m.

In the Weatherbys General Stud Book Pipalong Stakes at Pontefract on Tuesday, Promising Run hasn’t won in Britain since taking the Shadwell Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket as a two-year-old, but has three further Group Two successes at Meydan, including two earlier this year, to her name. Saeed bin Suroor’s 5-year-old has yet to win on ground faster than good, which is a slight worry granted the current heat wave, but takes a significant drop in class and may be able to defy her Group Two penalty in this lesser race.

The Hard Spun mare could only keep on at one pace in the closing stages when sixth of 11, beaten 7¼ lengths, behind Aljazzi in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot last month on her return from a break; a line through the third, Wilamina, suggests she has work to do to beat Shenanigans, but she can be expected to improve a little for the Royal Ascot run, which was her first for 11 weeks, and her previous Group One form in Meydan makes good reading in the context of this race.

Saeed bin Suroor has a healthy 8-27 (30%) strike rate overall at Pontefract during the last five seasons and, perhaps tellingly, has a 2-3 (67%) strike rate with his older horses at the West Yorkshire course in the same period. Shenanigans, who was solid placed form at Listed and Pattern level this season, looks sure to be a tough nut to crack once again, but Promising Run has plenty going for her and can resume winning ways. Join here for the best betting odds, for horse racing, football and more sports.

Selection: Pontefract 3.00 Promising Run to win 9/4