Horse Racing Betting Centre

Sporting Life Tips

FRIDAY EVENING'S SELECTIONS:

DUNDALK: 6.30 Ceannline, 7.00 Anna Montana, 7.30 Iron Major, 8.00 Humor Me Rene, 8.30 Sovento, 9.00 Bashkirov, 9.25 Princess Luck.

WOLVERHAMPTON: 5.50 FOREVER'S GIRL (NAP), 6.20 Turf Time, 6.50 Gargano, 7.20 Parhelion, 7.50 Seldom, 8.20 Smarties Party, 8.50 Amical Risks.

DOUBLE: Forever's Girl and Parhelion.

Forever's Girl is a confident pick to land the Sponsor A Race By Calling 01902 390000 Handicap at Wolverhampton.

Geoff Oldroyd's filly, three times a course winner at Dunstall Park, caught the eye on her return from a break when a close-up fifth in what turned out to be a decent event at Southwell last month, with the winner since going in again.

Running in the familiar colours of Reg Bond, she took a little while to hit top gear before running on at the end and should be all the sharper for the outing.

Parhelion will have learned plenty from his debut fifth at Lingfield and is fully expected to show the benefit in The Black Country's Only Racecourse Median Auction Maiden Stakes.

Mark Johnston's runners can generally be relied upon to improve from their first to run to their second, and, in any case, this son of Fantastic Light was not disgraced in fifth as he was keeping on nicely at the death once the penny started to drop.

Johnston can initiate a double in the Hotel & Conferencing At Wolverhampton Handicap with Gargano, who bumped into a decidedly smart one for this level in the shape of Spruce last time out.

Apart from one below-par run, Turf Time has been a model of consistency on the all-weather of late and only needs things to fall his way to play a leading role once again in the Great Offers At wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk Handicap.

Smarties Party was the subject of strong support here last week, only to find one too good.

Similar market confidence in the Name A Race To Enhance Your Brand Handicap would be interesting.

SATURDAY'S SELECTIONS:

AYR: 2.10 Si Bien, 2.40 Storymaker, 3.15 Glingerbank, 3.50 Knockavilla, 4.25 Turtle Spirit, 5.00 Lucky Nellerie, 5.30 Fightstar

CHEPSTOW: 2.20 Lord Tomnoddy, 2.55 Papradon, 3.30 Maktu, 4.05 Chance Du Roy, 4.40 Apocal, 5.15 Sir Winston

LIMERICK: 1.05 Point Of Light, 1.35 Rockers Field, 2.05 Greenhill Millie, 2.35 Prince Of Forwards, 3.10 Carlowsantana, 3.45 Our Girl Salley

SANDOWN: 2.00 Ranjobaie, 2.30 Appleaday, 3.05 QASPAL (NAP), 3.40 Lifestyle, 4.15 Tchico Polos, 4.50 Soulard

WOLVERHAMPTON: 2.15 Lovelace, 2.50 Gertmegalush, 3.25 Flipando, 4.00 Clear Ice, 4.35 Dubai Dynamo, 5.10 Doubnov, 5.40 Fighter Boy

DOUBLE: Qaspal and Ranjobaie

Qaspal has everything going for him in the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown on Saturday.

The Philip Hobbs-trained six-year-old scraped into the valuable handicap - he needed the defection of six runners to guarantee a place in the line-up - but a nerve-jangling wait can be royally vindicated.

Legendary owner JP McManus has many exciting novices this term, but this French-bred could be the pick of the litter.

After having coolly broken his maiden at Kempton, it was hard not to have been bowled over by his return at Sandown a week later.

Although he pulled hard early doors, Qaspal soon found a beautiful rhythm and spread-eagled a solid field by upwards of two and three-quarter lengths.

Such was his dominance that day, a 14lb rise seems fair enough.

Yet that penalty may not be enough to stifle further progress in Esher, where the track's uphill finish clearly brings out the best in him - a fact which also bodes well for Cheltenham.

With a fast pace virtually guaranteed, Hobbs' unexposed gelding should not be inconvenienced by either the drop in trip or the quicker ground.

His cause has also been considerably aided after ante-post favourite Hunterview missed the cut.

Ranjobaie can give the Nicky Henderson yard a potent pre-Cheltenham tonic by winning the EBF Paddy Power "National Hunt" Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final.

One blip at Leicester aside, the form from his three other races in Britain looks watertight.

Having been bested by Menorah and Notus De La Tour at Warwick and Plumpton respectively, Ranjobaie was then sent to Market Rasen for a qualifying round of Saturday's race.

Despite having twice been hampered in Lincolnshire, he excelled in inflicting a three-and-a-half-length defeat on Bygones Of Brid.

As that rival has since trotted up in Grade Two company at Kelso, the worthiness of the form is there for all to see.

Although the handicapper has acted swiftly - he has gone up 9lb - the likely appointment of 7lb claimer David Bass offsets any negligible damage.

This Grade Three challenge has for a long time been earmarked by connections, who can celebrate a big pay-day if Ranjobaie is anywhere near at the top of his game.

Flipando can enhance his Lincoln credentials by securing a crucial victory at Wolverhampton.

David Barron's nine-year-old scorched to a five-length success here over six furlongs in February and is clearly coming to hand nicely for the williamhill.com Lincoln Trial Handicap.

Flipando won this race last year from a 4lb lower mark before finishing third in the main event on Town Moor.

Given the style of his recent triumph, few would dare back against a similar outcome with Jamie Spencer back in the saddle.

Lovelace posted solid, if unspectacular, form in Dubai but should be far happier with his lot in the williamhill.com Lady Wulfruna Stakes.

Turtle Spirit looks one of the best bets on Ayr's card.

The Sandy Forster-trained six-year-old was mightily impressive when scoring over an extended two miles and six furlongs at Kelso last time - after which his trainer said a step up in trip was on cards.

Forster is true to her word and gives Turtle Spirit another chance to excel in the three-mile Blue Square Exclusive Live Show Prices Novices' Handicap Hurdle.

Glingerbank can make a late dash for Cheltenham glory in the Bet On Today's Football At bluesquare.com Handicap Hurdle.

Nicky Richards' well-thought-of 10-year-old is best when conditions are on the drying side and really ought to be winning this if he is to go down the Festival handicap route next week.

Admittedly moderate racing is on offer at Chepstow, where Papradon has been found a good opportunity to banish a couple of lacklustre runs in the Casino At bet365.com Handicap Hurdle.