Our in-form expert looks to follow up his sensational 50/1 Grand National-winning tip with two selections for Newmarket on Tuesday.
Value Bet tips: Tuesday April 11
1pt win Stone Of Destiny in 1.50 Newmarket at 12/1 (General)
1pt win Romantic Time in 3.35 Newmarket at 16/1 (General)
Romantic proposal at rewarding odds
Hollie Doyle sprung a 28/1 surprise on ROMANTIC TIME when winning last year’s Dick Poole at Salisbury and might be able to pull off something similar back aboard the same horse in Tuesday’s Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes, the day one highlight of Newmarket’s three-day bet365 Craven Meeting.
William Stone’s Time Test filly belied her relatively stout pedigree by showing loads of speed early on as a two-year-old, and no wonder connections weren’t tempted to step her up in distance until September following wins over the minimum trip at Yarmouth (good to firm) and Sandown (heavy) during the summer.
The first signs she may want a little extra yardage to be seen at her best came when promoted to Listed level at Newbury in mid-August, finishing eighth but far from disgraced beaten just three lengths having taken longer than her rivals to engage top gear.
She duly swooped late off a strong gallop to collect Group Three honours over six furlongs at Salisbury the following month and I’m tempted to strike a line through her subsequent Rockfel run – the last time she was sighted in 2021 - when racing far too freely close to the pace here on the Rowley Mile, getting no cover and ultimately hanging away towards the far rail in the closing stages when asked for an effort.
The first two home from the Rockfel, namely the penalised Hello You and George Boughey’s Cachet, reoppose this afternoon and hold a clear advantage on bare form, but Romantic Time is bred to improve with age and distance and, at the odds, she looks worth chancing first time out as a three-year-old on just her second try over seven furlongs.
The Timeform pace forecast suggests they’re going to go a really good gallop courtesy of Flash Betty, Almonhandesh and maybe even Cachet too, which will be far more suitable to the selection than the crawl they went in the Rockfel, and while clearly at a much lower level, it was encouraging to see her local trainer have a winner (under Doyle) with his most recent runner at Leicester the other week.
Stone dropped to very tempting mark
I quite like the look of newly-gelded Power Of Beauty for Hugo Palmer in the bet365 European Free Handicap but it's hard to argue he's the wrong price around 11/2 so I'll recommend a closer look at the Weatherbys Bloodstock Pro Handicap, in which 12/1 shot STONE OF DESTINY is just too well treated to leave alone.
Andrew Balding and King Power Racing had the neck second in this event last year with Chil Chil, who went on to compete at Group One level, and while thoroughly exposed and a real hostage to fortune in terms of run-style, it’s well worth recalling Stone Of Destiny was beaten just four lengths by Oxted in last year’s King’s Stand at Royal Ascot.
That excellent run saw his mark go back up to a near-career high of 106 so he consequently ended up winless in 2021 despite some fine efforts including a head second at Goodwood followed by a third in the Epsom Dash.
This time around he’s had a couple of fruitless spins at Meydan back in January but the BHA handicapper looks to have factored them in fairly literally as he’s right down to a mark of 95 again, just 2lb higher than when winning the 2020 Portland with loads to spare.
Crucially, the horse has got loads of pace to chase in this line-up and if he’s able to plot a path through towards the stands’ side from stall nine, David Probert might just be in business when others are tiring.
Published at 1500 BST on 11/04/22
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