talkSPORT have you covered with free horse racing tips and free bets on Thursday’s fixtures at Clonmel and Newbury.
Tom Lunn has gone through the cards, form, going and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices.
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Thursday racing tips
- NEWBURY
12.30: Junkanoo 5/1 each-way (1pt)
1.40: Destroytheevidence & Rock My Way – C/Exacta (1pt)
2.17: Listentoyourheart 4/6 (2pts)
2.52: Major Fortune 13/8 (1pt) - CLONMEL
2.40: Saint Sam 9/4 (1pt)
Junkanoo
Don’t often tip conditional jockeys’ contests as they can be quite unpredictable but Junkanoo appeals a lot stepping back down to 2m.
He placed behind Colours On Canvas in third in a tight finish at Fontwell late last month and has also shown form behind Enthused and a few other well-rated hurdlers.
Which could suggest he’s on a handy mark here and gets Caoilin Quinn on board for the third time in a row which can’t be said for many other runners.
He stepped up to 2m3f last time out and still performed well enough to suggest he will appreciate reverting back to 2m, having bypassed that as an option in October at Plumpton due to the ground.
The seven-year-old may prefer softer conditions but has gone close on good ground before.
Exacta
Onto a great class 3 in the Weekend Winners Novices’ Handicap Chase over an extended 2m7f.
Destroytheevidence trained by Kim Bailey won really nicely on chase debut last month and is set to follow a similar route to Chianti Classico, the Ultima winner.
He’s set to progress nicely so the top-weight shouldn’t be an issue and had clearly bounced back last time out to set any worries about his last effort in the previous campaign to rest.
I’ve tipped Collectors Item before, a few times in fact, but not since going down in the weights over hurdles after a string of losses.
He bounced back in May though on his second start over fences and is back up to his highest rating he achieved over hurdles.
Hugos New Horse had a wind op after two poor performances in the spring, but had one before after another two finishes far back in the winter of 2023.
Hard to side with although down to a dangerous mark, but would need to defy a long absence of a good run.
Rock My Way really bumped into a well handicapped horse on his chase debut, in Scarface, who went on to win a Grade 3 and place third in a Grade 2 in April.
Ultimately, he did well to place close to that horse that day giving away a stone in weight and looked close to getting victory last time out at Newbury over this course and distance behind Makin’yourmindup.
No changes in weight for that effort and looks a nice each-way price at this stage however, he has moved from Syd Hosie’s yard to Anthony Charlton.
I quite like both their chances and a bolder bet on an exacta could pay out quite nicely.
Listentoyourheart
Odds-on for a reason after winning last time out by 21 lengths when an even shorter price of 1/10.
But she has form in tough bumpers that suggests she’ll be a tough mare to beat, in the hands of Harry Skelton, trained by Dan Skelton for a yard in such good form of late.
They’ve had a ton of winners in the last two weeks alone and should be getting a few more across this week.
Major Fortune
Then we have the Pertemps Hurdle a Class 2 handicap hurdle over 3m, which sees another Skelton favourite in Major Fortune.
The six-year-old won ahead of Wewillgowithplanb by nearly three lengths at Newton Abbot just last week and as a result was upped 9lb in the ratings.
He’s given 19lb by the top-rated Monmiral who has much better form over 3m.
Trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Harry Cobden, the horse part owned by Sir Alex Ferguson has a great chance on winning on his seasonal reappearance.
Major Fortune is well supported though and won with so much in hand last time out that a rise of 9lb probably won’t be enough to stop him.
As a result, it’s hard not to side with the Skeltons in their form with a horse seemingly on the steep rise.
This horse battled it out with Chosen Witness over 3m at Ayr in April and has clearly come on a lot for that.
Saint Sam
The Clonmel Oil Chase is a Grade 2 chase over 2m5f which has attracted some top-rated chasers including Saint Sam, Fakir d’Oudairies, Solness and Fil Dor to name the front few in the betting of the six runners.
Fakir has been below par really in his last three runs and the nine-year-old returned from a 234 days break in September, only to finish a distant seventh of 17 behind Flooring Porter at Listowel.
There are of course three horses that are looking to go on this season and improve as six and seven-year-olds still with lots of potential to find at that age.
The Willie Mullins-trained Saint Sam is the top-rated, top-weighted by 5lb so will have to be at his best.
He’s been seen most recently in Auteuil and yet to be seen in a tougher contest this season, but has some summer form behind Easy Game at Listowel.
He returns at what could be a lower mark to what he could be now but the likes of Solness appeals more.
He reached new heights after a flurry of poor performances earlier this year in the summer and now has two wins on the bounce.
Fil Dor is difficult to side with given his recent placings and this race is wide open as a result.
Ultimately, Mullins has kept this horse ready and looks set to defy top-weight against some horses exposed, looking unlikely to appreciate the step up in weight.
Tom Lunn’s Profit/Loss
- October ’24: +21.57
- From May ’24: +155.99pts
- From July ’23: +368.55pts
All odds correct at time of writing
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