The weekend approaches, and Andrew Mount heralds it with his top tips across the four Friday racecards.
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Posted: 4pm, Thursday, February 20th
2.40 Warwick – STORMIN CROSSGALES (1pt win – 6/1 bet365)
STORMIN CROSSGALES improved when his usual tongue-tie was left off at Doncaster in mid-December, making all to score by just over two lengths from Tommy Cullen in a 2m handicap chase (the runner-up went one better over the same course and distance earlier this week). The Charles and Adam Pogson-trained eight-year-old comfortably followed up over 2m4.5f on soft ground at Southwell on New Year’s Day and his subsequent 2m Doncaster defeat (pulled up as the 3-1 favourite) is safely excused as he was one of three runners who seemed determined to make the running, setting it up for the closers. He’s back down in grade and up in trip today and could be in receipt of an easy lead. PEPE LE MOKO was a little underwhelming at Ludlow last time, finishing just over five lengths back in fourth of the seven runners, but he won comfortably on his sole previous course and distance outing and is worth a saver.
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6.15 Southwell – CHIEF MANKATO (1pt win – 12/1 bet365)
Those drawn wide, especially the ones ridden patiently, had a tough time in the 6f Class 4 handicap won by Fiscal Policy at Wolverhampton on November 18th (first three drawn 4, 6 and 3 of 11 and described by the Racing Post as “in touch with leaders”, “prominent, led over 1f out” and “led, headed over 1f out”). Giorgio M (stall 7) fared best of the closers in fourth and has made the frame in three of his four subsequent starts (he had excuses in the other, getting upset in the stalls), seventh-placed Batal Zabeel (stall 9, “towards rear”) was narrowly beaten into third place when 16-1 at Chelmsford next time, while eighth-placed Many A Star (stall 11, “raced wide, in touch”) has won three times since. Sixth-placed CHIEF MANKATO was always trapped wide under a midfield sit from stall 10 and did well to finish less than four lengths behind the winner. His two other all-weather starts produced a short-head second at Chelmsford and a nose defeat at Southwell and the four-year-old, whose sole win came on his racecourse debut, has been freshened up since. Many A Star will be a tough rival to beat but he still looks worth a small interest to confirm Wolverhampton form with his old rival.
Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
2.40 Warwick – STORMIN CROSSGALES (1pt win – 6/1 bet365)
6.15 Southwell – CHIEF MANKATO (1pt win – 12/1 bet365)
Andrew Mount’s tips for Friday, 21st February 2025
Andrew Mount’s Cheltenham Focus – Punting Angles for the Mares’ Chase
Regular viewers of GG’s Weekend Watch will know that I enjoy mares-only races as there some punting angles that often get overlooked and help us to find value selections. We have three races confined to mares at the Cheltenham festival – the 2m1f Grade 2 novices’ hurdle, the 2m4f Grade 1 hurdle and the 2m4.5f…
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