Alan Kelly’s Tips
Alan heads to Newbury on Thursday for his Nap of the Day
Get daily horse racing tips from our in-house racing expert, Alan Kelly, who has spent over 40 years in the betting industry.
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Alan also highlights his strongest selection each day, so visit our Nap of the Day page to see which horse he fancies most.
Latest Profit & Loss Figures
Despite five out of six winning naps (9/4, 11/4, 3/1, 6/4, 6/4) we still managed to have a losing week, mainly down to a set of poor results on Saturday.
P/L for the week ending Sunday, 1 November: -£10.50
P/L for the year to date: +£177.88
P/L for the year 2025: +£22.38
P/L for the year 2024: +£200.42
P/L since 1st September 2022: +£678.44
Alan Kelly's Tips - Thursday, 5 November
The ground is on the soft side of good for the three Jumps meetings due to take place in Britain on Thursday afternoon at Newbury, Newcastle and Plumpton.
2:25pm Newbury - Splendid Fellow (Nap)
A fascinating Pertemps Hurdle Series Qualifier, a race in which many of the 17 runners will be using this as a stepping stone to some valuable handicap chases as the season develops, in particular Stuart Edmunds’ Miami Magic, James Owen's One Big Bang and Jukebox Kid from the Ben Pauling stable, the latter already a Grade 2 winner over fences.
With that in mind, the three horses to concentrate on are recent Ffos Las winner Kilwaughter from the Hobbs/White stable, Harry Derham’s unbeaten handicap debutante Western Monkey and Henry De Bromhead’s SPLENDID FELLOW (Nap), with the vote going to the Irish raider, who also makes his handicap debut off what may prove to be a lenient mark of 125, although that is 5lb higher than the five-year-old would have to carry on the other side of the Irish Sea.
Darragh O’Keeffe’s mount has improved with each of his six starts over hurdles, and could hardly have been more impressive when cruising home in a Kilbeggan maiden two months ago. The Sholokhov gelding is open to plenty more improvement and the top Irish trainer is unlikely to go home empty handed with his only runner on the Newbury card.
Recommendation: Splendid Fellow (Nap) - 9/2 with bet365
This is Alan's Nap of the Day selection - see how it stacks up against Charlie McCann's pick.
3:15pm Newcastle - Empty Nest
The Paddy Pie, the winner of 8 chases for the Smith/Parkinson team is back with the West Yorkshire stable following an unsuccessful spell point-to-pointing for the Wanless family. A 13-year-old now, the mount of 7lb claimer Oscar Palmer is best watched at the moment. Stuart Coltherd’s Treaty Boy, due to run at Sedgefield on Tuesday, must be considered a doubtful runner just 48 hours later.
Runner-up to Christian Williams’ Rule Me In over today’s course and distance on his reappearance last week, Mark Walford’s EMPTY NEST is fancied to go one better on a course where the son of Yeats has run most of his best races. The eight-year-old’s form figures at Gosforth Park read 2-1-2-3-2, that one victory coming off a 4lb higher mark last March.
A repeat of Empty Nest’s second in a competitive handicap here back in January should be more than good enough for Jamie Hamilton’s mount to record a third win over fences.
Recommendation: Empty Nest - 9/4 with bet365
* 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 against the bookmakers.
Since joining Free Bets in 2008, he has helped readers find the best value each day.
You can also follow Alan Kelly on X for more racing insight.
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