Horse racing tips: Dave Nevison's best bets for Wednesday
Dave Nevison has three bets for Wednesday's action at Ayr and Kempton, live on Racing TV.
Having flagged up Ryan Sexton as a jockey to follow at the start of the season, I have proceeded to miss out on most of his wins since then, and I was gutted to watch him get up to beat my selection by a nose at Thirsk on Saturday.
The excellent young rider has an obvious chance here on this recent Irish import who has run off much higher marks in the recent past.
The four-year-old won off a rating of 79 for Hugo Palmer in 2020, but things obviously didn’t work out when he moved to Ireland where he had three different trainers in rapid succession.
However, he has run two very good races recently and looks poised to score for Adrian Keatley as he is certainly well enough handicapped to run up a sequence in these modest northern handicaps.
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There are few contenders in form here and others return from an absence, so this looks like an opportunity for this very consistent five-year-old to land another handicap.
Smart Connection has gradually improved since he joined the Alice Haynes yard and ran well again when fourth at Lingfield last time out.
His three victories have come on the all-weather, but he has also run well on turf for this yard, so he should be able to transfer his good form across.
A chance is worth taking on this five-year-old, despite him running below-par in four starts at Meydan when last seen in 2020.
He hasn’t been seen for over two years but is unbeaten in two starts over this course and distance and looked a graded performer in the making when winning his first two starts in 2019. It is clear that, if he is back to form, then a rating of 80 is a gift here.
Saeed bin Suroor, who has his team in good form, has brought several horses back from a similar lay-off in the past, and it is something he excels at.
Couple all of this with a really good apprentice, Christian Howarth, claiming 7lb, and the case is compelling. A strong position in the market will be the final positive in the jigsaw.
