There are five meetings across Britain and Ireland on Thursday and Racing Post tipster Robbie Wilders returns to provide his best bets.
Robbie Wilders' tips:
5.35 Salisbury - Ashtanga @ 10/1
8.00 Chelmsford - Haven Lady @ 9/2
8.30 Chelmsford - Tradesman @ 8/1
All odds are correct at time of writing and subject to change.
View all the latest Horse Racing odds here
5.35 Salisbury - Ashtanga @ 10/1
There is a flag start for staying races at Salisbury and that is possibly bad news for quirky early favourite Sailing On, who can be unruly in the preliminaries.
I’ve little doubt he is well handicapped, but he didn’t appear to truly see out 1m6f on soft ground at Yarmouth last time and the ground will be slow again in this 1m6f contest.
We have plenty of interesting three-year-olds in opposition and Sailing On can be opposed with ASHTANGA for Freddie and Martyn Meade.
Ashtanga needs testing ground and following her impressive maiden victory at Nottingham last October, her connections were speaking about her as a potential Oaks filly.
She was among those to be strung out across the Roodee when fifth behind Savethelastdance in the Cheshire Oaks to open her campaign, and finds herself rated just 77 after two runs in handicaps that didn’t go to plan.
The daughter of Nathaniel found the ground far too quick behind subsequent Royal Ascot winner Burdett Road at Newbury in June before turning up at Sandown following a 105-day break last month for an insufficient test of stamina over 1m2f.
This filly remains lightly raced and could leave her recent form well behind up markedly in trip.
Her pedigree is all about stamina and her freshness in relation to most of these makes her a big player.
Robbie Wilders' tip:
Ashtanga @ 10/1 - 1pt each-way
View the latest Horse Racing news, videos and betting tips
8.00 Chelmsford - Haven Lady @ 9/2
There isn’t much pace on in the 1m6f handicap at Chelmsford and this could get tactical.
A test of speed at the distance could well suit HAVEN LADY best of all from stall one.
She has never won over this trip, but is a three-time 1m4f winner and has recorded Racing Post Ratings of 76, 74, 73 and 72 on four of her last five all-weather starts, making her a big player in modest company off a mark of 66, if she can reproduce any of those efforts.
Haven Lady recorded a 69 RPR on her latest all-weather outing, but she probably wasn’t right that day as a four-month break followed, and she can show the benefit of that mid-season time off after gradually working her way back to form in two 1m6f handicaps on turf at Redcar this autumn.
The John Quinn-trained five-year-old is better on the all-weather and Bet365 are offering three places in this seven-runner field, so she should be backed each-way.
Robbie Wilders' tip:
Haven Lady @ 9/2 - 1pt each-way
8.30 Chelmsford - Tradesman @ 8/1
In the concluding 2m handicap at Chelmsford, it could be worth giving another chance to TRADESMAN.
Tradesman ran out a really impressive five-and-a-half-length winner here in August, but ran poorly at Wolverhampton a few days later when turned out quickly under a penalty.
There is every chance Tradesman simply needs a bit of time between his races and he returns to the scene of his best performance after 34 days off.
This is a weak contest, and this son of Mastercraftsman will be fine over an extra couple of furlongs as the 1m6f handicap he landed here was exceptionally strongly run for the grade, and he relished the stamina test.
I still have hopes this lightly-raced four-year-old can rank a fair bit higher than a mark of 54 for David Simcock.
Robbie Wilders' tip:
Tradesman @ 8/1 - 1pt each-way
Robbie Wilders' tips:
5.35 Salisbury - Ashtanga @ 10/1
8.00 Chelmsford - Haven Lady @ 9/2
8.30 Chelmsford - Tradesman @ 8/1
All odds are correct at time of writing and subject to change.
View all the latest Horse Racing odds here
