Thursday 8 June’s UK racing tips come your way from the meetings at Uttoxeter, Hamilton, Yarmouth and Chelmsford.
UTTOXETER
Race 1 – AJP KINGDOM 3/10
Fergal O’Brien is maintaining an excellent strike rate through the summer and AJP KINGDOM can add to it in this novices’ hurdle at Uttoxeter. Already a dual winner, he has been well-placed to defy a double penalty.
HAMILTON
Race 4 – EDWARD CORNELIUS 4/1
The Keith Dalgleish-trained EDWARD CORNELIUS shaped like he was not far away from winning last time out and gets the chance to prove it in this handicap test at Hamilton. Only four, he has not won that often, just two from 17, but he has been placed in some competitive races.
He meets some out-of-form rivals on the whole, and some who may have bigger targets later in the summer, so his canny trainer may see this as a great opportunity to bag a decent prize.
YARMOUTH
Race 1 – EASTERN CHARM 6/4
EASTERN CHARM should be able to make it back-to-back wins at Yarmouth in this handicap outing for William Haggas. The Kodiac filly had three pretty uninspiring runs at two last year, earning herself a handicap mark of just 57. To be fair it would have been hard for the handicapper to have given her any more, but it meant that she started this year with every chance of being able to be competitive.
She was just that back in April, providing a first winner in the UK for South African jockey Greg Cheyne in the process. Eastern Charm only went up 3lb for winning by a length and a quarter in a 0-60 and she moves into 0-65 company for this, but she could prove well ahead of her mark.
Race 2 – SEVEN QUESTIONS 23/20
SEVEN QUESTIONS looks the one in the second at Yarmouth. Another by Kodiac, not much went right on his debut up at Redcar behind Royal Ascot-bound Hala Emaraaty. He did not want to go in the stalls but once in, he was then slow to leave them.
That meant he was already on the back foot but he made eyecatching headway before losing a shoe and finishing fourth. George Scott does well with his team of juveniles and the youngster is likely to know a good bit more about the game now.
Race 4 – NIKOVO 17/2
Archie Watson and Hambleton Racing have done very well with their purchases from France in recent years and NIKOVO could be another good recruit as he debuts for the team in the tomorrow evening.
He arrives from none other than Andre Fabre, so you can hardly say there will be lots of improvement to come, but Watson places his horses almost better than anyone. From a pure Juddmonte family, the Kingman gelding has one win to his name and begins life off a mark of 86.
CHELMSFORD
Race 3 – CHERRY 13/2
There are some very well-bred fillies in the fillies’ novice stakes at Chelmsford, but perhaps the most interesting is Ralph Beckett’s CHERRY. She faces some previous winners, but is in receipt of weight from them and this Dubawi filly looked a surefire future winner on sole run at two.
In finishing third of 11 at Haydock over a mile, she looked the stereotypical middle-distance filly with which Beckett does so well. An extra two furlongs and a winter on her back are bound to have brought her on, but she will have to be on her game to win what looks a very hot contest.
