Andrew Asquith has two selections at Pontefract on Sunday, including a strong fancy in the feature.
Sunday View: Sunday July 26
1pt win Stella Lucente in the 15:30 Pontefract at 11/4 (bet365, Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair)
2pts win Point Lynas in the 16:00 Pontefract at 10/3 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook | Free bets Betfair Sportsbook
There’s no Irish racing this Sunday and only two domestic fixtures at Pontefract and Uttoxeter, so there isn’t that much to go at.
Small fields and fast ground are the order of the day at Pontefract, which means prominent racers could be seen to good advantage at a track where it can be hard to make ground up.
There isn’t much pace in the Trevor Woods Memorial Handicap and I think STELLA LUCENTE could well have the run of the race.
Her consistency is hard to knock, yet to finish out of the first three in seven starts so far, and some of her form stacks up well.
She has shown improved form since being fitted with blinkers and ridden from the front, building on her encouraging effort against her own age group at Wolverhampton when opening her account at Hamilton last week back against her elders.
Indeed, she got the run of the race on that occasion, but she wasn’t fazed when challenged, and displayed a nice turn of foot to assert away from the short-priced favourite in the final furlong.
That was a good performance for the grade and, though she’s 5lb higher now, this race doesn’t look any deeper. There’s also a strong chance she’ll get an easy lead in this field and, with Callum Rodriguez – who has a 30% strike rate at Pontefract this season – retaining the ride, there’s quite a bit to like about her chances up against more exposed opposition.
Holloway Boy has been put in a short-priced favourite for the William Hill Pomfret Stakes following his excellent second to very smart stablemate Zeus Olympios in the Group 2 Summer Mile at Ascot last time and he does set the standard on that effort.
However, he often saves his best for that track and, he generally isn’t a winning machine, so backing him at odds on looks risky in my opinion.
The same can be said for POINT LYNAS, but I’ve a feeling he’s been laid out for this, and this is another race which lacks obvious pace.
Point Lynas was a dominant winner of this race a couple of years ago, making all of the running to drum the rock-solid Regal Reality by five and a half lengths, and he has shown he’s capable of similar form since even though he hasn’t won.
He also finished runner-up in the Summer Mile last season to the then ultra-progressive Never So Brave and it’s possible that race left a mark on him as he was disappointing when trailing in last in this race just two weeks later 12 months ago.
Point Lynas also failed to settle under different tactics, so I’m not judging him too harshly on that effort, and he showed the benefit of his reappearance when a very good fourth in a hot handicap at York last time when arguably doing too much too soon, but that was still a smart performance from a BHA mark of 109.
He’s been given a nice break since that big effort, meaning he arrives a lot fresher for this than last year, and there’s a very strong chance he’ll be allowed to dominate this field from start to finish, while Ed Bethell and Callum Rodriguez has a 50% strike rate when teaming up together at Pontefract this season.
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.al
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
