Bernardo O’Reilly in winning action on Town Moor
Bernardo O’Reilly in winning action on Town Moor

St Leger racing tips: Best value bets for Doncaster on Friday September 10



Value Bet tips: Friday, September 10

1pt win Korker in 2.10 Doncaster at 33/1 (General)

1pt win Sovereign Duke in 3.15 Doncaster at 14/1 (General)

1pt win Bernardo O’Reilly in 3.45 Doncaster at 14/1 (bet365)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook


The weather at Doncaster remains potentially quite volatile going into day three of the Cazoo St Leger Festival and precisely what does and doesn’t fall from the sky in the DN4 region is likely to have a bearing on the eventual line-up for Friday’s Doncaster Cup.

It’s not a hugely appealing betting medium regardless, in truth, so rather than getting caught up in any ‘will they/won’t they’ over Stradivarius and Trueshan, I’ll jump straight into ITV3’s fourth live race - the racehorselotto.com Mallard Handicap - for an initial selection.

They bet 5/1 the field at the time of writing which is right in this column’s wheelhouse although taking on Emmet Mullins’ Sevenna Star under crack apprentice Dylan Browne McMonagle looks quite a challenge in itself.

A well-backed, Irish-trained favourite (Arcadian Sunrise) won one of the major stayers’ handicaps at York’s Ebor Festival last month and Sevenna Star – also declared for Leopardstown on Saturday – could take plenty of beating in the first-time hood (trainer’s record with hood first start reads two winners and two seconds from seven).

However, he’s not the only well-treated horse in the field and two stand out against him, the first being Uber Cool, who was the subject of pretty decent support throughout Thursday afternoon. He’s been right back to form since returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines and looks to have more races in him off a mark of 92.

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Duke can finally come good again

At almost twice Uber Cool's price, though, preference is for SOVEREIGN DUKE who has taken an age to get himself on the right side of the handicapper but showed clear signs of a revival when second at Sandown last time.

It wasn’t a brilliant race by any means and this clearly demands more but the Sandown winner, Oceanline, is a progressive three-year-old and Sovereign Duke faces nothing from the Classic generation here. It was at three that Henry Candy’s horse last tasted success, back in January 2018, but he’s been raced sparingly since then and it clearly didn’t work out for him in four starts over jumps after switching to Jamie Snowdon’s briefly last August.

There were glimmers of the fire still burning when resuming on the Flat back with Candy over an inadequate 12 furlongs at Kempton at the end of June, with last month’s effort a fairly major jump up on anything he’s done for a couple of years now.

He’s still only six and although nudged up a pound in the weights – which he could have done without – Saffie Osborne helps takes off an extra 5lb on this occasion. He’s clearly got the staying power and back class to outrun market expectations in this sort of company.

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Time of year for O'Reilly show

BERNARDO O’REILLY, another who bumped into an upwardly mobile three-year-old when last seen and is also partnered by a good 5lb claimer, looks the one to be on in the Cazoo Handicap over the extended six furlongs.

He has a mixed record at this course but did win a six-furlong handicap at this meeting 12 months ago and Richard Spencer’s charge finds himself on precisely the same mark of 87. That’s 1lb higher than for last Friday’s solid second at Ascot where he was inconvenienced by the small field and having to sit handily in a relatively slowly-run race.

The opposite should be true here, Able Kane, Gale Force Maya, Asjad and Giorgio Vasari all fancied to contribute to what looks likely to be a hot pace, and that's the scenario that suits Bernardo O’Reilly best.

He’s not too flashy and doesn’t hold many secrets but he’s won sprint handicaps off marks in the mid-80s and 90s around this time of year for the past three seasons, while his winning form as a juvenile came at seven furlongs so there shouldn’t be any danger of this slightly longer trip catching him out either.

Most importantly, he’s a double-figure price and looks underestimated in the market for a yard back among the winners at Wolverhampton on Wednesday.

The Sporting Life racing tipsters had a golden August

Kork-ing bet at huge odds

Earlier on the card, there was a massive turn-up with 40/1 winner Ubettabelieveit in the Wainwright Flying Childers Stakes last year and outsider KORKER looks worth a small bet at long odds this time around.

He’s got a mountain to climb on official figures but other than Armor I’m not convinced there’s a huge amount to be running scared of in this. Richard Hannon’s horse – already rated 109 – is the one they all have to beat based on his clear-cut Molecomb win at Goodwood, and he’ll likely appreciate the return to five furlongs having disappointed favourite-backers in the Prix Morny over six at Deauville last time.

Some rain would suit him but Dandy Man colt Korker handles an ease underfoot too and I’m convinced trainer Karl Burke has only just scratched the surface when it comes to unearthing this horse’s raw ability. That’ll have to be the case as he’s rated just 88 by the official handicapper, and has also had to pass a stalls test since York’s big sales race where he played up badly and seemed to have wasted a lot of energy beforehand.

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Considering those pre-race antics, he put in quite an eyecatching display, travelling keenly close to the pace and just about picking it up between two furlongs and a furlong from home. He almost inevitably weakened to finish out of the frame on his first try at six furlongs but will be much happier back over the minimum having dotted up over this trip in a Thirsk novice event on July 23.

That came a little over a month after his Royal Ascot effort when again running too freely for his own good in the Norfolk Stakes, but if Burke and rider Clifford Lee are able to harness that power and pace in the right manner he can surely rate a good deal higher, with the flat track at Doncaster expected to really play to his strengths.

Published at 1600 BST on 09/09/21

Click here for full Value Bet record


TV schedule & race times

  • When & Where: 1.40, 2.10, 2.40, 3.15, 3.45 Doncaster
  • TV: ITV3, Sky Sports Racing (Sky channel 415)

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