Saturday’s UK and Irish horse racing schedule is made up of meetings at Newbury, Newmarket, Market Rasen, Ripon, Cartmel, Doncaster, Haydock and the Curragh. The ground is drying and firming up at most tracks as the summer takes hold, meaning punters should be on the lookout for speedsters who have proven quality in these conditions. Picking a winner in horse racing has as much to do with the time of year as it does the recent form. Here are our top July 20 horse racing betting tips.
The schedule gives backers an interest from early afternoon through to late evening and there’s no lack of markets to wager your cash on. Have your say on the winners of the day’s top races shown live on ITV and At The Races or throw a few together to create a multiple, such as a Lucky 15. This will spread your interest out across more races and give you a chance at landing a bigger prize.
Strong Card at the Curragh
There are a few group races included in the list, such as the Hackwood Stakes at Newbury and the Anglesey Stakes, Minstrel Stakes and Irish Oaks around Curragh. One for the purists but there’s also lots for casual backers to sink their teeth into and our team of horse racing tipsters aim to guide you towards profit. We have picked our race of the day and, after running through the form and figures of the runners involved, offer our views on the best bet of the afternoon.
We’ll stick to the UK action and take a closer look at the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes sponsored by bet365 that goes at Newbury in the middle of the afternoon. It looks to be an open contest with plenty of value available in the antepost list and that should result in some nice price selections for those happy to leave it a little closer to the off time.
Hackwood Stakes – 3.00pm Newbury
Due off at 3.00pm around Newbury racecourse the 2019 renewal of the Bet365 Hackwood Stakes has been met by much excitement during the build-up. A six furlongs contest decided on good to firm ground this year, the original field promised up to 14 runners but that will be whittled down between now and the official off time following the various declarations stages. Many of the pack won’t make the cut, meaning we will lose a few decent runners, but the final field is sure to be a strong one and a case could be made for a few of those prominent in the betting.
This event was promoted to a Group 3 event in 2006 and has flourished since, growing in popularity and reputation. A vital part of Newbury’s summer festival, the crowds will settle for the start of this one as they hope to see another thrilling edition of a contest that has given us some memorable races over the last few years. Will Saturday live up to expectations and deliver another cracker? The field suggests so and the fact bookmakers have struggled to separate much of the field in the betting tells us this will be close.
The history books have Pat Eddery as the race’s most successful jockey with four titles. He got off the mark in 1987 when riding Interval to glory and that was followed by wins on Lake Coniston in 1994, Hattab 1997 and Invincible Spirit 2001. The leading trainer is James Fanshawe on three champions. La Grange Music did the business for him in 1990 and that paved the way for Deacon Blues in 2011 and The Tin Man three years ago.
Crowley a Man to Follow
More recent form shows Jim Crowley has won half of the last four runnings of this race, 2015 on Strath Burn and last year on Yafta. The latter recorded a blistering time of 1.11.19 and that would’ve been good enough to claim most of the recent renewals. Ideally, jockeys would like to see a little rain in the hours leading up to this race to ensure there’s a bit of juice in the ground and they can enjoy opening their horses up. The drying conditions should see times slow on last year.
Sticking with the recent trends and no trainer has been able to nail down a run of form in this race, but James Fanshawe has won two of the last eight, with William Haggas claiming two of the last 10, although his most recent victory came in 2013 with Heeraat. Looking through the age of recent winners as we seek out a clue and two of the last four have been three-year-olds, but half of the eight most recent champions have been four at the time of winning and that’s a stronger scent to follow if you like playing the numbers game.
It’s interesting to learn that the antepost list showed Jim Crowley had one runner in the mix and that was Khaadem, who will be ridden by Charlie Hills and is a three-year-old. He’s sure to be popular with backers leaning towards the trends and we expect to see the money come for him early. He’s not favourite, however, with the early betting sticking a 11/2 (10Bet) price tag to his chances of winning. That placed him second in line. Each-way backers will benefit from place terms of 1/5 the odds a place 1-2-3.
Act Sooner Rather than Later
Bookmakers are bypassing that one to stick The Tin Man to the top of their betting as the James Fanshawe trained jolly aims for a second win that would make him the race’s most successful horse. No runner has ever won this prize twice but there looks a real chance that record could be broken on Saturday as we have a talented favourite who is more than good enough.
Backers will find The Tin Man available at 9/4 and that’s top price when getting your cash down at 10Bet. That’s sure to appear in a few bet slips and multiples this weekend but if you are going to back it we would suggest getting your money down sooner rather than later as the late charge will come for him on the day.
Our Tip: The Tin Man – 3.00pm Newbury at 9/4 with 10Bet