No Dods-on Shots for this Canny Trainer

Racing clichés. You either love or hate them: Horses for courses. Always back the outsider of three. What about the old chestnut, backing the top weight in a nursery? Whether these proverbs contain a grain of truth is a matter for debate. However, who would your money be on if you to wanted to back a big priced winner on debut?

High Class Equine, who specialise in two-year-old horse racing, have one trainer who might just have the answer. The likelihood of most horses winning at speculative odds on debut is remote. While fashionable stables are held in high regard, their juveniles rarely prevail at fancy odds. By contrast, smaller stables may have umpteen runners at fantastic odds. But, in truth, you are more likely to be struck by a meteorite from Mars than see them win. However, take a look at today's racing results and the chances are a speculative-priced two-year-old has prevailed. But what is the secret to finding such winners?

It may be as simple as following a given horse trainer.

One handler worth keeping on side is Michael Dods. Training just outside Darlington, Denton Hall Stables has been a home to many a talented horses over the years. What’s more, their juveniles are capable of winning at speculative odds on debut. In fact, from studying their runners over the last few seasons it could be argued many outsiders have run bigger races than their more fancied horses. In recent years, Dods’ juveniles have been winning at fancy odds. I still have fond memories of Magic Echo winning at 66/1. Now it would be foolish to imagine every horse trained by Dods will win at those fancy odds. However, his juveniles often enjoy testing conditions, and that combined with travelling to one of the trainer’s favourite racecourse can make for an interesting wager.

The next time you see one of his speculative-priced two-year-olds making its debut at Newcastle, in soft/heavy ground, you won’t go far wrong having a canny each way bet.

This outsider could well prove a winner tip.