Alan Thomson, the former Racing Editor at the Daily Record, puts up five tips at Doncaster, Kempton, Musselburgh and Meydan on Saturday. View selections below.
ARMCHAIR punters, starved of action last weekend, can tuck into a domestic and international feast on Saturday, with Godolphin’s HUNTER’S LIGHT (6.05) a confident pick to scoop the Dubai World Cup.
The boys in blue always have their horses in tip-top order for the Meydan festival and Hunter’s Light has demolished his rivals on both starts on the synthetic Tapeta surface this winter. Silvestre De Sousa, who rides the track particularly competently, will want to have Hunter’s Light fairly handy from a good position in box four and he can assert down the stretch from American ace Royal Delta and 2011 Kentucky Derby hero Animal Kingdom, who hasn’t been so fortunate in the draw. Planteur, third last year and the mount of Ryan Moore, is reportedly sharper for his recent Lingfield success and, with a staggering £3.7million going to the winner (even the sixth home pockets £122,000!), no quarter will be asked or given.
On a glittering afternoon of Group 1 contests elsewhere on the card, St Nicholas Abbey will do well to cope with Japanese superstar GENTILDONNA (5.20). After rattling off the Japanese fillies’ Triple Crown, Gentildonna became the first three-year-old filly to win the Japan Cup (beating Arc runner-up Orfevre). St Nicholas Abbey attempts to go one better than last year when only just denied by Cirrus Des Aigles in the Sheema Classic and the winner later made Frankel pull out the stops in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in the autumn.
On the home front, CAPTAIN BERTIE (3.05) should run a big race in the William Hill Lincoln, with testing ground holding no terrors to the Charlie Hills-trained handicapper. Captain Bertie comes to hand early and, after running on into fourth in the Spring Mile on Town Moor 12 months ago, won the Newbury Spring Cup in the mud three weeks later.
The Channel Four cameras are also on duty at Kempton, Haydock and Musselburgh and, on the all-weather, BetVictor sponsor a cracking renewal of the historic Rosebery Handicap over 1m 3f. There should be a lively betting market and course and distance winner SPIFER (2.55) can give a good account. Now with Marco Botti (previously trained by Luca Cumani), Spifer was a running-on second to the improving Robins Hood Bay over a furlong shorter last time and his Kempton record reads 212 from three visits. Greylami is very tightly handicapped with Spifer on his last run and is another to go well here.
In the totepool Royal Mile Handicap at Musselburgh, GREELEYS LOVE (3.35) is the mount of Joe Fanning from four Mark Johnston runners. The stable’s three-year-olds are always to be respected and Greeleys Love finished a light juvenile season on a high by beating Dr Phibes at Thirsk in a mid-September nursery. He could be well treated at the foot of the handicap.
Other selections last week for Doncaster’s postponed fixture: Nameitwhatyoulike (1.55), Jack Dexter (2.30), The Welsh Wizard (3.30)
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Tally Ho
Alan
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