The last festival of the British jumps season continues on Thursday. It is in the usually sleepy confines of Perth, which has drawn extra attention this week as a battleground for the trainer and jockeys’ championships and we have 3 horse racing tips from there, as well as elsewhere on today’s cards.
The best racing on the day is in Scotland. There are also strong midweek meetings down the east of the country, as Beverley hosts a seven-race card and Huntingdon takes turf racing into the evening with eight races. Perth is likely to be the culmination of the season for many of its runners, but at Beverley and Huntingdon there are horses just setting off on their summer campaigns. Here are three horses to watch out for.
2.45 Beverley – Happy Birthday Andy Hill Handicap
Many happy returns to Andy, but there is a horse in this race who has also had races named in his honour. In the last two seasons, there has been a race at York named the Copper Knight – Winning Most Horse At York Handicap. The horse himself has contested both, albeit finishing seventh and sixth. He won it under its old name in 2018.
It is only three weeks until the Dante meeting at York. It is suggested that Copper Knight, who is very much not Beverley’s winning most horse, is probably getting ready for a return to that meeting, where he has won twice before.
Instead, the horse who might win is nominated as LAKOTA BLUE. He is only four and improved quite a bit during his three-year-old season, with his best run a second at Glorious Goodwood. Like many of Lakota Blue’s best runs, that came on soft ground and conditions are likely to be testing here. Beverley was waterlogged this time last week.
3.00 Perth – Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Conditional Jockeys’ Veterans’ Handicap Chase
You could say this 3m chase was at the other end of the spectrum. That would not be quite true, as tomorrow it will be the Highland National over an extra three-quarters of a mile. In this race we have a runner in DESTINY IS ALL who went off joint-favourite for that race last year.
Destiny Is All was pulled up that day, but can be excused. He made a bad mistake early on the final circuit, at which point he was still going comfortably. He won on his reappearance in the autumn, admittedly when fortunate, and has sprinkled in some creditable runs since while dropping in the weights.
Last time, over 4m at Hexham, Destiny Is All was fourth of five. But he was only beaten a length and three-quarters and he lost a couple of places late on. Maybe he does not stay as well as he shapes, but that point is moot back at 3m. He is much the best of these, the ratings say so, and he has the best jockey in this field too. Remember how this week will decide the championships? Well, the conditional riders’ title is already weighed in. It will be won by Patrick Wadge, who is on Destiny Is All today just as he was for the horse’s win in October.
5.10 Huntingdon – Racehorse Shares From £45 At rracingclub.com Novices’ Handicap Chase
This will be MOLE COURT‘s final run in novice chases. He won his first chase last June and his novice status is about to expire. What he will remain is a summer horse, he won four times over fences between June and October, including when winning at Cheltenham’s Showcase meeting.
He has not been seen since finishing seventh (beaten only 11 lengths) at the same track the following month. Some of the big summer staying chases will likely be on his radar this time around. He is punching down a bit on this first run back, so if he is close to full fitness then he should be able to pick up where he left off.
Selections
2.45 Beverley – Lakota Blue
3.00 Perth – Destiny Is All
5.10 Huntingdon – Mole Court
By Rob Eddy
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