Horse Racing: Newmarket – Wednesday 16th April Tips and Betting Preview

With the Grand National and Cheltenham behind us our racing attention turns to the flat stuff for the next few months and with that our interest goes to HQ on Wednesday when the second day of the Craven Meeting takes place.

The feature race itself is a competitive looking affair but there isn’t really a bet that stands out to us so we are going to focus our attention elsewhere which comes along in the opening race of the day where we are going double handed.

1.50 Newmarket

A handicap full of unexposed horses, many of them making their first start of the season, makes this a bit of a minefield but the market has quickly broken this field into 2.   There are the first 5 in the market, all trading at 7/1 or less, & the rest, all in double figures.   I think there are question marks over all the front 5 so it might be worth going double handed with 2 of the outsiders.   The first of those is Belgrave who comes here for his first start of the season & he’s one who will welcome any rain that falls.  With just 4 starts to his name, he’s open to plenty of improvement & he certainly did that run to run last year, recording a significantly better RPR each time.   After a disappointing 6th on debut, he twice ran 2nd, the most recent of those when coming clear with one other who is pretty well regarded.  On heavy ground on his final start, he routed a small field.   Dictating up the Leicester straight course, the response was good when Rossa Ryan pushed the button, coming home nearly 5 lengths to the good.  His opening mark could prove to be lenient & he looks a nice each way bet.

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The other I like is Majestic Wave.   Trained in Ireland last year, he’s a bit more experienced having run 5 times last term.  After a pair of 2nds, he won a big field maiden at Navan, the front 2 finishing clear of the rest.   He showed tactical speed & a good staying on finish to win by around half a length.   Since moving to the UK, he’s raced once, in a hot handicap on the sand at Lingfield where he finished with a fair flourish to come 4th behind the very progressive So Darn Hot.  It’s probably worth noting than the 2nd horse home, a length in front of ours, won next time out off a 2lb higher mark so the fact our selection’s mark hasn’t moved would indicate he is more than capable of going very close here.   His last 2 starts have yielded RPRs in the 90s so a mark of 89 adds weight to the claims he’s handicapped to win.   I feel his price is more based on connections rather than the horses’ real chances & I’m hoping he runs a big race at a lovely price.

Tips

Back Belgrave (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 8.50 Paddy Power (⅕ odds 1-4)

Back Majestic Wave (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 Unibet (⅕ odds 1-4)