Saturday horse racing tips: four best bets from Dave Nevison
Our resident website tipster Dave Nevison has put up 14-1, 5-1, 10-3 and 2-1 winners in the past week and likes four runners at Newbury and Newmarket on a Group One Saturday on the channel. Join us for further action too from Thirsk and Wexford live on Racing TV.
2.05 Newmarket: Acotango
He's been raised 3lb for defeat last time out and I might normally think that’s a bit harsh, but Acotango was an excellent second at Haydock when sandwiched between two subsequent winners and he still looks to be well handicapped off a mark of 86.
He was a 14-1 chance last time so perhaps wasn’t expected to do as well as he did and he might well improve for that effort. He is running out of his grade here in the 0-85 bracket and hopefully jockey Richard Kingscote has got over his nightmare day at York on Thursday and can steer Acotango up the Rowley Mile to victory.
2.40 Newmarket: Eminency
He's been given a pass by the handicapper and not been raised in the weights for his desperately unlucky run at Kempton last time, where he finished fourth but would almost certainly have won if he got a clear run.
Eminency was hampered at the start and things went worse for him after that, yet he finished with plenty left in him with his jockey stood up in the irons. Even with the form taken at face value it still looks a strong run, with horses that finished in front and behind him having already won. Eminency is clearly a well-handicapped horse off a mark of 86.
Trainer Clive Cox has only had one winner in May and back on the first day of the month, but there is no doubt in my mind that his yard is in excellent form and has simply just not been getting the breaks. Hopefully Eminency can kick things off for him.
3.00 Newbury: Desert Hero
Not too many horses go from a handicap to the Betfred Derby, but William Haggas still has Desert Hero in at Epsom and given the Classic is still wide open the colt could well be an interesting runner for The King and The Queen if he wins this red hot handicap.
I have absolutely no qualms about his fitness from this yard, and while his second of two wins came at long odds-on in a weak event at Redcar at the back-end of last season his form does have some substance. He ran third in the Group Three Solario Stakes at Sandown on only his second start and he easily beat Captain Winters on debut at Haydock, who landed Listed honours earlier this week. This could be a real case of a ‘Group horse in a handicap’ and, though this race is always one of the key three-year-old handicaps of the season, Desert Hero may well show himself ridiculously well weighted off 94.
3.35 Newbury: Modern Games
This is a much bigger field than might normally be expected for a Group One event, but in my view less than a handful of the runners could actually win this year’s Al Shaqab Lockinge.
There is no doubt that Modern Games is a genuine Group One performer as he has won three times at the top level already, including the French 2000 Guineas and the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Charlie Appleby’s jet-setter was odds-on and probably should have collected another major trophy at Keeneland last time, but he was set too much to do and though he was closing down the winner all the way to the line he was never going to get there.
Despite that disappointment Modern Games is still a top-class miler and he will definitely get things run to suit him this time, with several pace-setters in the line-up and Newbury’s straight galloping mile set to suit him ideally.
