Our resident pundit has thee bets on the Flat, including a strong fancy at Salisbury.
2.05 Gowran
BUMBASINA (best price 13-2) ran with plenty of promise on her debut at the Curragh towards the backend of last season so providing she has trained on nicely in the interim period, hopes are high she can make the grade this campaign. Quietly fancied in some quarters at the Co Kildare venue, Willie McCreery’s inmate went some way to justifying the money in her direction by finishing her race off nicely in the closing stages to finish a never-nearer seventh behind Landfall and with that horse going to scoop Group 3 glory on his next start, her performance gains extra merit. Nicely drawn in stall three and from a yard that does really well with older fillies, the daughter of Canford Cliffs will hopefully play a leading role.
4.30 Salisbury
Backers of THE TARTAN SPARTAN (NAP) (best price 2-1) can consider themselves a shade unfortunate for not getting the lion’s share of the pie at Musselburgh last time out, but there’s a decent chance Pat Shanahan’s inmate will make amends in this similar contest. Held up off the speed at the Scottish track, the son of The Carbon Unit got caught in a pocket with three furlongs to go and by the time he found some daylight, the bird had already flown. Staying on strongly all the way to the line, he left the impression there was plenty left in the tank for another day and off the same mark, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t massively competitive.
4.45 Thirsk
NAGGERS (best price 9-4) created a favourable impression on his seasonal return in a hot handicap at Doncaster and with the time figure and subsequent form of that race 28 days ago suggesting it’s a contest worth following blind, Paul Midgley’s charge will hopefully prove a money spinner like several others previously. Not only has the winner, Wentworth Falls, gone in again at Redcar, even the eighteenth home Gunmetal bolted up at Newmarket last week, and given the son of Excellent Art passed a bucket-load of horses in final two furlongs despite having to zig-zag his way through the pack, his overall performance deserves to be massively upgraded.
