The week continues to build towards Cheltenham, and Andrew Mount looks to build your betting coffers with his Thursday top tip from Market Rasen…
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Posted: 4:03pm, Wednesday, November 13th
1.30 Market Rasen – MOON HUNTER (1.5pt win – 100/30 bet365)
The Henry Daly-trained MOON HUNTER was one of my ten-to-follow last season and I wrote this about him for GG prior to his 2023/24 seasonal return….
‘Point-to-point winner MOON HUNTER scored comfortably in a good-ground novices’ hurdle at Wetherby in mid-November on his debut for Henry Daly and followed up on similar going at Doncaster 47 days later. After that win his trainer, quoted in the Racing Post, said ‘Winning at Wetherby took a lot more out of Moon Hunter than I thought, he lost 27kg, and he’d barely had a race. That’s a lot to lose in an easy race and it surprised me’. More surprisingly, the six-year-old was asked to run on heavy ground just 16 days later in the Grade 2 Ballymore Leamington Novices’ Hurdle at Warwick. Perhaps the prize money was too tempting, but it was still an odd move to take in that race and he was always struggling before pulling up after three out. His jockey reported that he was “never travelling” and his trainer said he would “prefer a quicker surface”. He was freshened up by a two-month break prior to his good-ground second to Henry’s Friend at Doncaster in March and would have found underfoot conditions slower than ideal when 14th of 22 in a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Aintree on his final outing. He should be a different proposition when switched to fences and could make his debut over the larger obstacles in the 3.20 at Cheltenham on Friday (October 27th).’
He did run in that Cheltenham race – a 2m4f handicap chase – in which he finished a respectable fourth, doing second best of those to come from off the pace. That looked to be the perfect foundation for a successful first season over fences, but he didn’t progress in his three subsequent starts in 2023/24, recording form figures of 85F (0-3). However, all came on ground slower than ideal, and he shaped well on last month’s comeback at Chepstow, coming from off the pace – tactics rarely helpful at Chepstow – to finish fourth to Destroytheevidence. The patiently ridden second and third have advertised the form and the first-time cheekpieces could eke out some improvement. I also like the fact that he’s returning to Market Rasen as his trainer is 16 from 55 with his chase runners here this century for a profit of £33.98 to a £1 level stake at SP. Only one of those wore first-time cheekpieces, 14-1 winner Rockiteer.
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Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
1.30 Market Rasen – MOON HUNTER (1.5pt win – 100/30 bet365)
Moon Hunter
Andrew Mount’s tips for Thursday, 14th November 2024.
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