Trouble in running for our best bet of the day meant our tipping team drew a blank on Sunday for the first time this month but with five races on offer from Newturf Virtual Racecourse on Monday, hopefully we can get back on the winning trail.
Having looked over the three flat races, we struggled to come up with a confident bet. Talisman looked potentially interesting in the Secreto Derby but there are too many imponderables to recommend it as a bet. We also considered Sekola Ekole in the Poet’s Voice Derby. This one has a great cruising speed but a shortage of stamina has let this one down too often. Fortunately, both the hurdles races have betting possibilities. The Hardy Eustace Hurdle (20:40 Newturf) has attracted a high quality field and appears competitive which will hopefully enable us to secure decent odds. The firm ground is the key to unlocking this particular puzzle and there are five in the field that have both the quality and will relish the conditions.
The trio at the top of the race card; Ex Fruit Caladois, Hisaabaat and Koblenz all have solid claims. Koblenz is perhaps the quickest but has appeared to be short on stamina at time and without the blinkers today, is cautiously ruled out. There is not much between Ex Fruit Caladois and Hisaabaat and of the two, my marginal preference is for Hisaabaat. He should not be far away.
The one we like best though is Bearing Fruit. This one is at least the equal of both Hisaaabaat and Ex Fruit Caladois in terms of speed but also has abundant stamina. His win in the HHHC Final on similarly fast ground, with Hisaabaat, Ex Fruit Caladois, La Calafornie and more of today’s rivals behind, is arguably the strongest piece of form on offer here. The presence of Fruitasa Ts complicates matters a little. She has also demonstrated top class form on a fast surface, including when getting the better of Ex Fruit Caladois when the pair finished second and third in the RTC Final recently. She could possibly give Bearing Fruit most to do but the absence of blinkers enables us to retain faith in the selection.
In the Istabraq Hurdle (20:50 Newturf) Berylium de Muraille looks unopposable. He completed a five-timer when landing the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle last time out and is perfectly at home on a fast surface. There are some unexposed types towards the bottom of the card that could be anything and necessitates that we temper stakes but I would be surprised if any of them were quite as good as Berylium de Muraille has already shown himself to be.
Bearing Fruit to win (Hardy Eustace Hurdle, 20:40 Newturf.)
Berylium de Muraille to win (Istabraq Hurdle, 20:50 Newturf.)