Hi
Please see my two picks for Friday:
Hymn and a Prayer – 3.30 Exeter – 2- Mile Handicap Hurdle – 50/1 Bet365 Ladbrokes. Coral – BOG – 4 Places.
The favourite No No Tonic won well last time up, but that’s a race his connections have always targeted, and with such a poor record apart from that race he looks well worth taking on.
I like the look of Hymn and a Prayer, the outsider of the field. On first inspection, his form doesn’t equate to much, but two things stand out for me.
Firstly he has shown ability in NH flat races postmarking 97. 98 and 101 and yet his hurdles mark sits at just 78, and this gives him scope to win a hurdles race when his wellbeing is right and hurdles well enough.
Secondly, he has been off the track for 273 days and coming from a small stable and low strike rate this is off-putting. However, when you read into Hymn and a Prayer’s form all his best races are off a break. Something the market has missed.
He has run well at Exeter and likes soft ground, so at 50/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral, and Bet365 – BOG, I recommend 1 point each way.
He is still value at 20/1.
Endless Flight – 4.05 Exeter – 2-Mile 3F Handicap Chase – 18/1 Bet365, William Hill, BetVictor – 3 Places – 1 Point Each Way.
Sue Gardner, with her daughter Lucy riding get their fair share of winners, particularly at Exeter.
Indeed many a time their winners at Exeter seem to win decisively, especially in soft conditions.
Endless Flight did exactly this over hurdles, off a mark of 102, dotting up by 8 lengths from the favourite who has subsequently gone up 20lb in the handicap.
Endless Flight is now over chases and having her third run. He will have gained good experience from those runs and today drops from 3 miles back to the winning distance of his romp at Exeter off a workable mark of 105.
At 18/1 with Bet365, William Hill and BetVictor the Gardner team are well worth a bet, and I recommend 1 point each way.
They are still value at 12/1.
