Friday racing tips: Best bets and odds on Musselburgh, Newmarket and Thirsk

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Friday is here again and to get us in the mood for the weekend we have four selections for you across three different cards using the best odds from betting sites.

An interesting 7f handicap for us here. Jonny Concrete is a C&D winner who arrives in good form after scoring at York (7f, good to firm) last time. He showed a good attitude that day and was close to being the selection for this.

However, Jack Nicholls (who is on board again) can only claim 3lb in this and with a 2lb rise for the horse, its effectively a 4lb rise overall. He may still have it in him to successfully follow-up but he’s never yet bettered his latest effort and he’s now had 23 attempts.

Therefore, I am going to side with the unexposed EAGLE BAY with horse racing betting sites. Harriet Bethell has her string in good nick and this three-year-old arrives in cracking form, having won a Thirsk maiden (7f, good to soft) by 5l and then a Chester novice event (7½f, good) by 6l, making good progress as a result.

He’s since been taken out of a race because he was off colour but that was nigh on a month ago and we’ll trust that all is well again. It’s his handicap debut and he looks a huge player, even against seasoned performers like these.

One other to mention is Native Honey, for whom trip and ground suit but he does look vulnerable against an improver, particularly in this grade.

Friday racing tip 1: Eagle Bay (Musselburgh, 15.20) – 2pts win @ SP

There are questions to answer for all six involved in this field, several of them with a clear need to prove they’ll see out this trip to best effect.

One who has ticked that box is SUDU, a 1m4f winner at Epsom (good) 13 months ago. That wasn’t quite up to the level of some of his opponents in this field but it was an impressive 7l success nonetheless and if he can get close to that level, he’d look tough to beat.

Like the others there’s something to prove though, because he was well below par on his only start since then, when upped to Class 2 at Goodwood just over a year ago.

Roger Varian has given him a lengthy break and you’d feel optimistic that with that trainer’s string in good form, this four-year-old might be ready to perform well again on his reappearance. He’s unexposed and should be happier, at least first time out, with the drop back to Class 3. He looks worth a small stakes play on betting apps.

Friday racing tip 2: Sudu (Thirsk, 16.10) – 1pt win @ SP

Sir Mark Prescott has been there and done that as far as getting horses well handicapped is concerned. Some of his feats back in the day are legendary and, while ROC DE FER has yet to live up to that lofty reputation, he’s made a start.

The gelded three-year-old son of Sea The Moon had three qualifying runs on trips too short last year but was then made favourite for his reappearance, when third at Ripon (1m2f, good) on his handicap debut in June.

Taking few chances, the layers had him at the head of the market next time, when he went to Southwell (1m3f, AW) and was an eased down winner. Back out four days later, he found it harder work under a penalty but duly obliged at Wolverhampton (1m4f, AW) last Friday.

That was an improved effort and a quick glance at his pedigree offers further scope for another step forward over what is another slightly longer trip for this. He’s got another 6lb penalty to shoulder but he’s still 2lb well in than when his official mark is revised and his genius trainer has still managed to keep him to Class 5 level. Who are we to argue?

Friday racing tip 3: Roc De Fer (Musselburgh, 16.24) – 2pts win @ SP

With so many small fields around at the moment, I’ve dipped into Newmarket’s evening card for a race where the market might hold up a little better.

Spring Bloom is in tremendous form at the moment and is seeking a hat-trick of C&D wins, first taking a 0-80 and then last week a 0-75 after a 2lb rise. He’s up another 3lb here and you have to go back well over a year to find a performance that would give you the confidence that he’ll be able to win again.

That’s not to say that he won’t but with a 3lb pull for ¾l last weekend, FENLANDER may be able to turn the tables. Pam Sly’s five-year-old has been in the best form of his career, completing a hat-trick with wins twice at Leicester and then at Nottingham (all 6f, sound surface).

He went up 15lb for those successes and, although not quite as good behind Spring Bloom last week, he has more recently produced his career best effort. He looks worth a small play to continue his recent positive spell.

Friday racing tip 4: Fenlander (Newmarket, 19.12) – 1pt win @ SP

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