Warwick, Salisbury and Chelmsford Horse Racing Tips for Thursday

The latest horse racing betting tips for Thursday's racing from Racing Post tipster Graeme Rodway.

Thursday’s Horse Racing Betting Tips and Odds

15:30 Warwick - Long Draw @ 5/2
16:50 Salisbury - Zikany @ 18/1
17:30 Chelmsford - Taxiing @ 15/2

15:30 Warwick - Long Draw @ 5/2

The 2m5f handicap hurdle is the feature race at Warwick and it provides a good opportunity for the lightly raced LONG DRAW to get back to winning ways for red-hot trainer Olly Murphy.

The five-year-old has gone from strength to strength since sent handicapping over hurdles and followed his maiden victory at Ffos Las in May with an even better effort at Worcester last time.

Long Draw was beaten only a short-head on that occasion by winner Oceanline and the front two pulled five lengths clear of the remainder of the field in a good time for the grade.

The selection has been raised 6lb in the weights, but would probably have won last time but for a bad mistake at the second last which cost him valuable momentum and it was his first run for four months.

With improvement expected now that he has that reappearance under his belt, he can go one better.

16:50 Salisbury - Zikany @ 18/1

The 1m6f handicap at Salisbury is a tricky little race and it might be worth taking a chance on ZIKANY, who is likely to be a big price after a quiet seasonal reappearance at Goodwood in August.

Zikany was beaten 16 lengths by the winner on that occasion, but was entitled to need that run as it was his first since October 2022, and he also got hampered when attempting to improve his place.

I’m willing to put a line through that effort and Zikany is better judged on the progressive form that he showed at the back end of 2022.

He was successful on good to soft ground at Goodwood in October of that year and wound up the campaign with a half-length third on easy going at Newmarket.

If he can reproduce that sort of form he will be a player here and it’s interesting that trainer Amanda Perrett brings him to Salisbury and has booked Saffie Osborne to ride.

Perrett has a good record at this course and Osborne doesn’t ride many for her, with a winner and a second from eight mounts.

17:30 Chelmsford - Taxiing @ 15/2

The 2m handicap at Chelmsford might come down to a match between Veer and TAXIING and hopefully I’ve picked the right one because Taxiing might be hard to beat now she is back at this track.

Three runs at Chelmsford have yielded form figures of 214 for Taxiing and her victory came over course and distance, so we know that she is well suited by the demands of the tight Essex circuit.

She is also 2lb lower than when recording that victory at the track and has twice run well on her last three starts.

She was beaten only five lengths at Kempton in August, despite finishing just seventh, and then recorded a solid time in fourth on turf at Salisbury later that month off 3lb higher than this.

She was well beaten at Bath last time, but that was over 2m1f on grass and returning to the all-weather will almost certainly help.

The switch of headgear from a visor to blinkers also promises to bring out better in Taxiing and the last time she won she also had a change to freshen her up.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.