Paul Jacobs’ Sunday Racing Tips
15.30 Epsom – Mark of Gold
15.50 Curragh – Montpellier Green
16.05 Epsom – Simply Sondheim
16.25 Curragh – Tashkhan
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
15.30 Epsom – Mark of Gold
With a dry 36 hours before racing, the heavy going at the Surrey track is likely to dry out and become really tacky which means that seeing out this mile and a half trip will be of paramount importance for this Apprentices’ Derby.
Plenty of these will struggle to see out the trip if we get a true run race and that looks sure to play into the hands of the Gary and Josh Moore charge Mark of Gold who relished conditions when winning off a rating of 73 last May. He has been fairly lightly raced since then visiting the race track on only six occasions, all over hurdles, but has a fair record fresh.
This race looks as though it pans out nicely for him and off 79 he can prove too strong up the home straight for the likes of stable mate and course and distance winner Miller Spirit and three-year-old and light weight Organic. The last named still has to prove that he stays this far and has yet to race on going this testing.
15.50 Curragh – Montpellier Green
Heishybrid was a hugely impressive winner of his maiden at Leopardstown last time out when staying on very strongly up the hill. A return to a mile in time should suit this son of Ulysees, but with the booking of Colin Keane, he should still go well off a top weight and a mark of 76. He looks the biggest danger to my value play Montpellier Green, under the care of Joseph O’Brien. As a son of Mehmas out of a dam who stayed a mile and a quarter, this step up to seven furlongs should prove perfect for the bay gelding.
He was definitely an eye catcher last time out at Cork when getting outpaced early on after falling out of the stalls and was given a very considerate ride in the closing stages by the red hot Dylan Browne McMonagle. Native Honey is yet another youngster making his handicap debut of interest if the market speaks in his favour following a 116-day break.
16.05 Epsom – Simply Sondheim
This mile and a quarter contest is full of characters that you simply cannot set your clock by and as such a lot will depend on what side of the box some of these emerge from in the morning.
From a handicapping point of view it surely won’t be long until the classy If Not Now wins a race of this nature having been rated 6lbs higher recently. Whiskey Pete showed that his turn was not too far away when running Brioni to four lengths at Ascot last time out and this looks slightly easier with so many untrustworthy players here. The three-year-old Winston’s Tipple is firmly on the upgrade but has never run on ground this soft so I am going to take a chance on the George Baker-trained runner Simply Sondheim.
He does tend to splutter coming out of the stalls and in order to relax in his races he needs a fast pace to chase. He saw too much daylight too early on at Goodwood two outings back on ground that was quick enough and then last time out he was way too keen at Kempton Park. The handicapper has finally given him a chance off 88 and it could all be down to whether he relaxes and drops the bit in the early exchanges up the hill.
16.25 Curragh – Tashkhan
The massively valuable Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch Handicap has to be one of my favourite punting events of the year and with rain expected this could once again turn into a right old slog as we have seen in the past couple of years.
For the past two years, I have tipped up the veteran Falcon Eight and you could make a sound argument that the former Chester Cup winner should have won at least one of those renewals, if not both, with a bit more luck in the run. I will be having a saver on the nine-year-old especially if the conditions deteriorate further and his price stays at around the 33/1 mark.
I am not so sure that one of the market leaders, Nurburgring, would want bottomless ground, while the same remark applies to the classy and lightly raced five-year-old Zanndabad.
After much deliberation I got the field of 30 down to a short list of five and based on the prices available and because of the enhanced each-way terms offered by Paddy Power I thought that the best each-way call was with the top weight Tashkhan. Brian Ellison has had to sit and suffer with his talented ace stayer as the ground has gone against him on several occasions when he has been declared to run. This talented stayer finally got his conditions last time out at Chester eight days ago when staying on stoutly to finish six lengths of the well treated Spirit Mixer at Chester when a soft early pace hardly suited him.
A regular player against the very best stayers in Europe through the past two years, as long as the forecast rains arrive I expect the six-year-old to put up a bold bid under his welterweight under regular partner Ben Robinson.
Paul Jacobs’ Sunday Racing Tips
15.30 Epsom – Mark of Gold
15.50 Curragh – Montpellier Green
16.05 Epsom – Simply Sondheim
16.25 Curragh – Tashkhan
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Read More
- Get all the latest Horse Racing News and Racing Tips at Paddy Power News
- Horse Racing calendar: Key Flat fixtures and races for 2024
- When is the Cheltenham Festival 2025? Dates for next year’s mega meeting
- When is the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2024? Longchamp date, start time, runners and betting
THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO SAFER GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
