Welcome to another exciting Saturday of horse racing and although this weekend’s fixture list doesn’t boast some of the delights of previous weekends, which have included the Grand National, Scottish National and Irish National, there’s plenty to hold the attention of punters with each of the days races shown live on TV and the betting apps of major bookmakers. Here are our April 27 horse racing betting tips.
Whether you have made a profit on the big stage in recent weeks or are still chasing that winner that’s going to give a cash injection to your bank balance before the end of the month, you’ll find something that’ll catch your eye on Saturday, with meetings of note taking place across the UK and Ireland, including Sandown, Haydock, Doncaster, Wolverhampton and Limerick.
Our team of horse racing experts and sports betting enthusiasts have returned to cast their eye over the best the day has to offer, giving their opinions on which runners deserve your attention and how the betting markets are shaping up. We’ve also trawled through the price comparison sites to make you aware of the bookies giving out market best odds, vitally important to those eager to make a profit from their gambling over the course of a season.
Old Boston Handicap – 2.05pm Haydock
A seven furlongs Class 2 dash in the spring sunshine of Haydock racecourse and the £28,000 prize money paid to the winner will ensure we have some of the sport’s best names in attendance, showcasing the runners they believe are good enough to win this before moving on to bigger and better things. It’s a wide-open field at the time of writing but that will be whittled down as we approach the off, the deadwood cutback at the final declarations stage.
The antepost betting market for this race was headed by Bowerman who is a 6/1 shot when betting with Bet365, but there’s plenty near the top of the list that’ll attract your attention and traders aren’t quite sure as of yet what to make of this race. The money men have priced up their book but it’s competitive and they are allowing punters to have their say, backing opinions with hard cash.
That’ll be music to the ears of value hunters who make a career out of pouncing on any indecision on the trading floors. At the time of writing there is no more than four points between the first seven in the betting. We told you it was an open market, but which one should you have your cash on here?
Cold Stare Worth a Look
Safe Voyage won this race last year for the partnership of Quinn and Egan and bookies say a repeat performance wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, marking more of the same and a successful defence up at 10/1 with Unibet. If you fancy a flutter on that one, we suggest getting your cash down at Unibet as many firms are giving only 15/2 on the same result, which is a dangerous difference. Be sure to get the most for your stake money in this race.
It’s not a bet for us however as we’ll be pinning our cash on the chances of Cold Stare, another who can be backed at 10/1 (Bet365) at the time of writing. The David O’Meara trained runner has already won over course and distance and has run at Haydock three times in his last seven outings. In that time, the four-year-old gelding has scored only once but really impressed when claiming a 6f handicap against a decent field last summer, delighting backers when coming home as a 9/1 champion, holding off the attentions of runner-up Starlight Romance by ¾ of a length.
Since registering that win, Cold Stare has blown hot-and-cold but was second last time out at Doncaster in November when competing in a 7f handicap, beaten a length by the SP favourite Lord Oberon, despite going off a 11/1 supposed no-hoper with traders. This is a runner coming in on the back of a rest, so he’ll be in great nick and handlers have targeted this contest and the best way to launch his season. There’s enough of a price to bet each-way if you’re after a safety net, with punters getting 1/4 the odds a place 1-2-3 with most major firms.
Our Tip: Cold Stare to win – 10/1 at Bet365
King Richard III Stakes
Another open betting market in the early exchanges and the antepost list had Eqtidaar as 3/1 favourite with Bet365. The traders look to be spot on with that and despite it being the shortest runner in the field, there’s still enough of a price to back the jolly. That’s what we intend to do.
The four-year-old colt, trained by Sir Michael Stoute and owned by Al Maktoum, brings a CV showing two wins and a runner-up finish from seven starts with those who have followed this horse from the start enjoying a healthy profit off level stakes. His victories came at Nottingham on debut when banking a maiden stakes and around Ascot last summer when winning the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup off a jaw-dropping 12/1 starting price. Anything like a repeat performance will see this talented runner take his tally to three.
A Strong Return
The only slight drawbacks if backing this horse is he hasn’t won in two outings since, failing to pressure the prize places at Newmarket and Haydock when contesting the Darley July Cup Stakes over 6f and the 32Red Sprint Cup Stakes last September. He hasn’t been seen in competitive action in 2019, but he’ll be well-prepared for this return and we’re confident, if running to the best of his ability following a break, he can get the year off to a winning start. It’s not yet clear what to expect of this horse in future but he’s progressive enough and has already shown us he has bags of class, so we do predict he’ll win this and go on to contest bigger and better races in the coming months.