Ginger Joe's best bets for today’s horse racing.
15:20 Leicester
The six runner novices handicap chase at Leicester looks like a decent race and we have some unexposed types the lineup. Immortal Fame is a horse I would typically be on side with as a real honest genuine chaser who runs his race consistently, but he is 6lbs worse off here for beating the reopposing King Arise by half a length.
There isn’t much between the pair but this is why you need to side with PLAISIR DES FLOS (best price 3/1) for the Fergal O’Brien team. He is a rapidly progressive horse who won five starts in a row last year before running well in two deep handicaps, and I think he can progress past the front two in the market here as the unexposed sort in the race.
We are close to Day 1 at Cheltenham now and Fergal will have his squad fit and ready to run next week and I imagine Plaisir Des Flos has been put through his paces at home too. He is a 6yo making his chase debut here and could be very well treated and he wouldn’t be lining up at Leicester unless connections were happy with him. He could show enough improvement to outclass his rivals and gets my vote.
17:22 Exeter
We finish the day with a selection in the novices handicap hurdle over a trip just shy of 3 miles. River Voyage for Rebecca Curtis is the current market leader after an eased down wide margin victory at Ffos Las and does still looks well handicapped in this race. The worry for me would be the fact that all of his form is on soft and heavy conditions and he won’t get that here. I’d be slightly cautious about him backing up that recent win.
I do however think there are other well handicapped horses in this race and the bet for me is ALL IN HAND (best price 13/2) for the Bowens. This is a horse that has been running to a consistent level in novice hurdles and the switch to handicap company gives her a good chance of breaking her maiden.
She looks like a typical stayer and this is going to be the furthest she has been since her run at Stratford back in October. That was over 2m6f and represents her best piece of form to date and the step up in trip here looks sure to suit. Sean Bowen in the saddle is a huge positive and he can get a real good tune out of this mare. She is a good each bet here.
