Alan Kelly’s Tips
Alan heads to Southwell on Tuesday for his best bet of the day
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Alan Kelly's Tips - Tuesday, 6 January
With the abandonment of Musselburgh’s jumps card, we are left with the all-weather cards at Wolverhampton in the afternoon and Southwell in the evening.
2:15pm Wolverhampton - Midnight Call
With six winners and nine seconds from 40 runners over the last two weeks, the Tony Carroll stable could hardly be in better form. Conditions for this Class 6 Classified Stakes for horses rated 0-50 look ideal for his MIDNIGHT CALL to land a hat-trick of wins following victories on this course in November and more recently four days ago.
Both of those wins came with 7lb claimer Matthew Slater in the saddle, the two having forged a good partnership since the daughter of Caravaggio left the Charlie Johnston stable last May. The mare is at her best when leading or racing up with the pace so her draw in stall 1 looks ideal for the five-year-old.
On her 85th start and with four wins on turf and five on an artificial surface to her name, Iain Jardine’s Catherine Chroi is always to be respected in this lowly grace, although, surprisingly, this will be the eight-year-old’s first visit to Wolverhampton. Philip Kirby’s Lady Bouquet is the other one to consider.
Recommendation: Midnight Call
7:00pm Southwell - Imola (Nap)
The five-year-old mare Imola has become expensive to follow since joining the Joey Ramsden stable from that of Lawrence Mullaney three months ago, the daughter of Calyx heavily supported on her last six starts for the stable since finishing a promising second at Wolverhampton in October.
A 4/1 chance and making headway when unseating apprentice Andrea Pinna at Newcastle last month before finding only winner Ribston Pippin a length and a quarter too good over today’s course and distance 10 days later. Dropping back to 7f at Southwell three days ago, Lewis Edmunds’ mount finished a never-nearer length and a half third, looking as if a return to today’s trip would help the mare record a first victory following 21 career starts.
Off her current mark of 52, IMOLA looks sure to be winning soon. In a race featuring mainly out of form rivals, the consistent mare can finally get her head in front at the main expense of Karl Burke’s Showstorm and Poke The Bear from the Hayley Burton stable.
Recommendation: Imola (Nap) - 2/1 with bet365
8:00pm Southwell - Flash Rascal (Each-Way)
Despite only 2lb covering seven of the eight contenders for this 6f handicap for three-year-olds, Ralph Beckett’s hat-trick seeking Dartrey is likely to be a warm order in an effort to record three victories in less than a week on this course. The Lope De Vega gelding had little trouble in making a successful handicap debut on New Year’s Day when justifying strong support off an opening mark of just 56.
The mount of Edward Greatrex wasn’t as impressive when winning again, this time over 7f at Southwell two days later under a 6lb penalty, although the length and a half runner-up Dagger Strike was also attempting to follow up his Newcastle victory of five days earlier. A second 6lb penalty will make things tougher for Dartrey, one of Juddmonte’s lesser lights, in which case I would rather back the Newland/Insole-trained FLASH RASCAL (Each-Way), if the odds permit.
The Havana Grey gelding opened his account on his all-weather debut with a comfortable victory in a Chelmsford nursery in November. Third on his next two starts last month, Paul Mulrennan’s mount didn’t get the best of runs when finishing a length behind the in-form American Flight at Kempton and looks more than capable of going close off the same mark of 70.
Recommendation: Flash Rascal (Each-Way) - 12/1 with bet365 (3 places)
* Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.
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About Alan Kelly
A passionate follower of horse racing for over 50 years, Alan has enjoyed a 40-year career in the betting industry, 28 of which he spent running his betting shop as an owner/manager.
A successful punter with a keen eye for value, Alan has had many betting highlights, including a Scoop 6 win and has shown a consistent profit in the battle with bookmakers since joining Freebets.com in 2008.
You can follow Alan Kelly on Twitter for more racing insight.
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