Joe Norris from GYTO picks a horse at Naas races for his Monday stat bet.
14:50 Naas
To return with a win after such a lengthy absence MEHMAR must have the potential to be pretty useful. Not only that but he bounced out and made every yard so his jockey Colin Keane must have had a lot of confidence in him. He dictated and kept finding to fend them all off and was nicely on top at the line.
Given we hadn’t seen him since Royal Ascot 2022 when down the field behind Little Big Bear in the Windsor Castle I thought that was a notable success.
This son of Mehmas now goes handicapping for the first time and his trainer Michael O’Callaghan has had a good season with handicap debutants. His win strike rate is a respectable 14% but it is his place strike rate that catches my eye at nearly 30%. He carries top-weight here but a mark of 87 should be within reach and I make him the one to beat.
