The pronounced bias towards horses
drawn low, on the inside, over 5 furlongs at Beverley is well known
to punters and bookmakers alike and invariably influences the betting
on the Beverley Bullet Sprint Stakes.
In fact, the eleven winners of the race
so far were drawn 1, 2, 1, 9, 2, 4, 1, 9, 8, 7 and 6 so, while it
seems obvious that we should concentrate on horses drawn in single
figures, we may struggle to find selections that are anything but
realistically priced.
Confessional (50/1) finished third,
beaten 1½ lengths, in this race three seasons ago from stall 12, but
it’s testament to his deterioration in the interim that he was
rated 106 on that occasion and is rated just 84 today. A career
record of five wins from 82 starts, none of which have come at Listed
level, probably tells you all you need to know about Tim Easterby’s
eight-year-old and he surely has too much to find, even from the plum
draw in
stall 1.
Similar comments apply to Tangerine
Trees (25/1), who won this race and the Prix de l’Abbaye de
Longchamp as a six-year-old, but has officially deteriorated by 17lb
since those halcyon days and is hard to fancy. He did manage to beat
fellow veteran Borderlescott, on advantageous terms, in a small
conditions race at Ayr in April, but his more recent form is less
inspiring.
Of the others drawn in single figures,
Line Of Reason (6/1), Maarek (5/1), Alben Star (6/1) and Dikta Del
Mar (10/1) don’t fall into the ‘outsider’ category so, we’re
left with Holley Shiftwell (14/1), Red Pike (12/1) and Cordial
(25/1).
All three of them have work to do to
beat the principals on official ratings but, while he’s raced just
once (without success) over 5 furlongs, Red Pike has a decent
strike rate for a sprinter and has plenty of winning form over 6
furlongs on the prevailing good going. He’ll probably need a
career-best effort to win but, in a race where the market leaders
look far from ‘bomb-proof’, he’s our tentative selection.
Selection: Beverley 2.20 Red
Pike (12/1 generally available) to win
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