Alan Kelly’s Tips

Alan heads to Doncaster on Friday for his best bet

Updated: September 10, 2026 at 5:00 pm GMT+1

Get fresh daily selections and a standout Nap of the Day from our in-house racing expert, Alan Kelly.

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Despite four winning naps out of six (4/1, 9/4, 2/1 and 6/4 (10p R4) we ended the week with just a small profit of +£2.35.

This week's action heads to Town Moor for Doncaster’s St Leger meeting which gets underway on Thursday, while over in Ireland it is Champions weekend at Leopardstown (Saturday) and the Curragh (Sunday).

P/L for the week ending Sunday, 6 September: +£2.35

P/L for the year to date: +£160.25

P/L for the year 2025: +£22.38

P/L for the year 2024: +£200.42

P/L since 1st September 2022: +£660.00


Alan Kelly's Tips - Friday, 11 September

The feature races on the second day of Doncaster's St Leger meeting are the Flying Childers Stakes at 2.25pm and the Doncaster Cup at 3:00pm, both Group 2 contests.


1:15pm Doncaster - Forbidden Fire

Godolphin holds a strong hand in Doncaster’s Listed 7f opener courtesy of Charlie Appleby’s Nabati and Rock Montreal from the Roger Varian stable. The former ran subsequent Gimcrack winner Arapaho Gold to a neck in Newbury’s Rose Bowl before struggling to beat the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained Tawakal (a well beaten favourite at Kempton on Saturday) at Newmarket last month.

Rock Montreal was an easy winner on his debut at Yarmouth last month when sent off at odds of ⅖. The son of Blue Point is clearly held in high regard, but that didn’t look a very competitive contest for Ray Dawson’s mount, unlike Andrew Balding’s FORBIDDEN FIRE, one of two fillies in the race.

The well-bred daughter of No Nay Never and Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen, impressed me when running away with a 6f novice race at Salisbury on her debut last month. The third horse home on that occasion, Michael Bell’s Easy Answer, had previously finished ahead of some decent juveniles when 15th in the Coventry at Royal Ascot.

In receipt of the 5lb sex allowance from her two main rivals, Oisin Murphy’s mount is fancied to cope with the step-up in class and looks a Group filly in the making.

Recommendation: Forbidden Fire - 7/2 with Betfred


2:25pm Doncaster - Flann Sunna (Each-Way) (Nap)

Richard Hannon’s Pershaada failed, along with the rest of his rivals, to match strides with US speed machine Bacio in York’s Nunthorpe last month and will be seen to better effect back in his own age group. 

This drop back to the minimum trip looks  sure to suit Ballydoyle’s Carry The Flag, who had most of the field in trouble when attempting to make all in Deauville’s Prix Morny last month, only to be swamped by the classy Senorita Bonita inside the closing stages of that 6f Group 1 contest run on soft ground.

The latter is not the only talented juvenile in the Simon & Ed Crisford stable however, one such being the speedy Blue Point colt FLANN SUNNA (Each-Way) (Nap), who couldn’t have been more impressive in winning races at Windsor and Ascot on his first two starts during the summer.

On the back of those victories, William Buick’s mount was sent off a hot favourite to land the hat-trick in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. Following an awkward start, before failing to settle, we didn’t see Flann Sunna at anything like his best in finishing just a respectable 5th of the 10 runners.

The selection is much better than he showed at the West Sussex racecourse and will not be inconvenienced by the drop back in trip. In a race with plenty of early pace, I expect Flann Sunna to have too much finishing speed for his rivals at the business end of this juvenile contest.

Recommendation: Flann Sunna (Each-Way) (Nap) - 13/2 with William Hill (3 places)


This is Alan's Nap of the Day selection - see how it stacks up against Charlie McCann's pick too.


3:00pm Doncaster - Beylerbeyi (Each-Way)

This looks to be a below-par renewal of this 2m 2f Group 2 stamina test, the field of 10 headed by George Scott’s Group 1 winner Caballo De Mar, who has to concede between 5lb and 16lb to his rivals. Oisin Murphy’s mount had a hard race in the Gold Cup at Ascot before finishing a tame fourth in York’s Lonsdale Cup at the Ebor meeting.

Anything Irish trainer Emmet Mullins runs has to be respected, but this is a long way from the Ffos Las maiden race the three-year-old won on his first start for the stable since leaving France during the summer. The betting is headed by Ballydoyle’s Queenstown, based on the six-year-old’s win in the St Leger Trial at the Curragh last month.

The mount of Ryan Moore was on a losing run of 12 prior to that success, however, and looks poor value at odds of around 7/4. In a race which looks primed for an upset, the vote goes to the Ian Willaims-trained BEYLERBEYI (Each-Way).

Clifford Lee’s mount won the Cesarewitch over today’s trip 12 months ago, since when the Invincible Spirit gelding has been running well in defeat, despite not always enjoying the best of luck. Beaten less than three lengths when 5th of 22 in last month’s Ebor, Beylerbeyi is fancied to outrun his odds in this average Doncaster Cup.

Recommendation: Beylerbeyi (Each-Way) - 14/1 with Paddy Power (3 places)


* Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.


Check out more from the Freebets horse racing hub, including tips, stats, market movers and today’s racecards!

Alan Kelly’s Tips
Charlie McCann’s Tips
Lucky 15 Tips for Today & Tomorrow
Horse Racing Market Movers - Today’s Best Backed Horses
Horse Racing Stats & Trends - Today’s Key Pointers
Longest Travelled Horses Today
UK & Ireland Racecards for Today
Placepot Tips Today - Free Tote Placepot Tips for Every UK & Irish Meeting
Nap of the Day - Top Horse Racing Naps & Daily Tips

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 Free Bets in 2008.

You can follow Alan Kelly on X for more racing insight.


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Alan Kelly
Alan Kelly

A successful punter, with a keen eye for value, Alan has had many betting highlights down the years, including a Scoop 6 win and has shown a consistent profit in the battle with bookmakers since joining Free Bets.

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