There is ITV racing from Exeter and Punchestown this Sunday and our Matt Brocklebank has his eye on a runner in Ireland.
Value Bet tips: Sunday November 20
1pt win My Immortal in 3.15 Punchestown at 10/1 (General)
Not a big punting day by any means but ITV Racing must be applauded for weaving Sunday’s Unibet Morgiana Hurdle into their schedule as we could be looking at a genuine Champion Hurdle contender in action at Punchestown.
Without wishing to do Sharjah an injustice, State Man is arguably the real draw here and it’s not hard to see him bridging the gap from novice to open company first time out after backing up his County Hurdle win with Grade One glory at the Festival here in April when last seen.
Three Willie Mullins-trained five-year-olds have won this race in the last seven years, including Sharjah himself in 2018, and I fully expect this youngster to progress markedly again this season.
We can happily leave him alone at skinny prices, though, and would much rather have a bet in the Pertemps Network Group Handicap Hurdle in which course and distance winner MY IMMORTAL appeals with more rain around on raceday.
He resumed over an inadequate two and a half miles, on lively enough ground, at the last meeting here last month and just shaped like he badly needed the run, his first outing since February - having been withdrawn at Fairyhouse in April due to a temperature.
The first spin for 231 days is clearly entitled to bring him on quite significantly, while it’s interesting to see connections go back to the cheekpieces which were tried once towards the end of his bumper campaign last summer, prior to looking progressive over hurdles.
He won two of his three outings over timber last term, both wins over three miles-plus, the second in a heavy-ground handicap from a mark of 120.
Admittedly, he's still 10lb higher and the cheekpieces didn't spark a huge amount of improvement when first attempted but it was good ground at Downpatrick that day too so I’m really keen to see this horse in headgear again, especially back over the longer trip with plenty of ease underfoot.
A little closer to home, Harry Fry is out in force at Exeter and he could end up with the favourite in all three terrestrial TV races.
How's The Cricket looked miles ahead of the assessor when winning by 10 lengths on debut over fences at Ffos Las recently and a subsequent 8lb rise is potentially quite generous heading into his follow-up bid in the Exeter On Haldon Handicap Chase.
He's very hard to oppose, while the closest I came to a bet against stablemate/owner-mate Dubrovnik Harry in the Devonshire Novices' Limited Handicap Chase was Triple Trade, who now has Harry Cobden for company after falling at Chepstow earlier in the month.
I'd normally be dead against any budding chaser who crashes out at the first time of asking over fences but he'd jumped with aplomb until coming to grief under Brendan Powell three fences from the finish, and he was shaping like a promising future chaser throughout last season.
I'm not totally convinced trainer Joe Tizzard's horses are firing on all cylinders just yet, though, so I'll take a pull and hope this young horse gets a more reassuring experience under his belt before possibly becoming a more solid betting proposition next time.
Published at 1530 GMT on 19/11/22
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
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.
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.
