Matt Brocklebank has the Friday selections with his Nap in action at Ayr.
Some really competitive stuff on day two at Ayr and the Arran Scottish Sprint EBF Fillies’ Stakes looks a decent race for a bet as the two quality older horses at the top have a little bit to prove now. The three-year-old challenge is strong and WOODHAY WONDER gets my vote. She won three times at two and has continued to progress this season, running fine races in defeat in quality handicaps over five furlongs at Ascot the last twice. The margin (half a furlong) step up in trip on this similarly stiff track looks in her favour, together with the prevailing conditions, and you just cannot fault this filly’s consistency. I’m pretty convinced there’s more to come from her.
Plenty in with chances in Newbury's seven-furlong nursery but GLORYOUS makes plenty of appeal with Oisin Murphy taking over from William Carson in the saddle. Rod Millman’s filly left her low-key debut run well behind when second in a Salisbury maiden last month and although subsequently disappointing in a novice event at Ffos Las, she looked to completely hate the heavy ground on that occasion. An opening mark of 74 seems fair based on the middle of her three runs and getting back on a sound surface is a major plus.
Hopefully it can be a case of third time lucky for JUGGERNAUT in a Newton Abbot handicap as he returns to the track on Thursday afternoon. Anthony Honeyball’s lightly-raced horse was denied a clear run at a key time on handicap debut in July, finishing a fair fifth in the end, and was in the process of running a big race before a mistake two-out looked to cost him dearly last month. There’s little or no early pace in this field so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Sam Twiston-Davies elected to make it on Juggernaut and if his hurdling holds up late on then he’s going to take some passing.
John Butler’s horses are in decent nick and JACK SPAROWE has crept down to a workable mark, looking on the verge of a return to winning ways when a close fourth at Newcastle earlier this month. Successful at this track over a similar trip 12 months ago, there’s plenty to like especially if the recent run – his first outing for 69 days – sharpens the horse up a bit physically.
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.
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.