Punchestown’s third day is the primary source of Thursday’s racing action, but Andrew Mount has scoured all of the British and Irish meetings for his best bets.
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Posted: 7:25am, Thursday, May 1st
2.25 Southwell – DESTINADO (1pt e/w – 5/1 generally)
DESTINADO scored just once from 25 starts when with Tony Carroll but is nine from 32 for current handler James Owen for a profit of £47.00 to a £1 level stake at SP (expected winners = 3.73, A/E = 2.41). This hold-up performer is seen to best effect in big fields and his record for Owen in fields of ten or more runners stands at 131161134168060011412 (9-21) for a profit of £58.00. He also looks the type who might be a better horse in a better race, as they’ll go faster up front, and he matched his career-best RPR (Racing Post Rating) when upped to Class 4 level at Lingfield last time, going down by a head at 40-1. That took his record in big-field apprentice races for his current yard to 1112 (3-4) and he’s been found another apprentice contest today.
2.30 Punchestown – KAP QUEST (1pt e/w – 14/1 Ladbrokes, Coral, both paying six places)
KAP QUEST, winner of a maiden hurdle at Exeter in December, unseated at Newbury on his handicap debut on the back of a break next time and can be forgiven his subsequent 30-length Warwick fifth. Weak in the betting that day, just eight days after Newbury, he didn’t see out the 2m5f trip and it looked like a confidence-boosting exercise. We’ve already seen British trainers do well in handicap hurdles here this week and Harry Fry is six from 27 with his course runners for a profit of £25.00 to a £1 level stake at SP with the hurdlers contributing the bulk of the profit (4-16, +£23.00).
4.15 Punchestown – STONER’S CHOICE (0.5pt e/w – 50/1 Paddy Power, 40/1 generally) & BEAT THE BAT (0.5pt e/w – BEAT THE BAT – 8/1 Coral, six places, 15/2 generally)
STONER’S CHOICE was a huge eyecatcher in a four-runner 2m5f Pertemps Qualifier at Kempton in November, doing superbly well to finish four and a half lengths back in second place after getting involved in a fierce three-way battle for the lead. That race was set up for the only hold-up horse – Pyramid Place – with the other two front-runners finishing 24 and 42 lengths behind the gallant runner-up. We bet Stoner’s Choice at Ascot next time where he just secured the each-way money with a 28-1 fourth to East India Express (winner again since) in a 2m5.5f handicap hurdle and he bounced back from a below-par Ascot effort over an inadequate 2m3f to again run second at Kempton in late February. Fergal O’Brien’s ten-year-old has a good record in the spring, recording form figures in the March to May period of 211411 (4-6) for a profit of £18.63 to a £1 level stake at SP (the fourth place came in Class 1 company) and he’s worth chancing at a huge price.
Coral Cup fourth BEAT THE BAT is another Harry Fry-trained runner, and he could appreciate the step up to this near 3m trip for the first time. He was completed outpaced over 2m in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury on his penultimate start and this will be his first outing on good ground since his 2m3f Ascot win in November 2023.
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Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
2.25 Southwell – DESTINADO (1pt e/w – 5/1 generally)
2.30 Punchestown – KAP QUEST (1pt e/w – 14/1 Ladbrokes, Coral, both paying six places)
4.15 Punchestown – STONER’S CHOICE (0.5pt e/w – 50/1 Paddy Power, 40/1 generally) & BEAT THE BAT (0.5pt e/w – BEAT THE BAT – 8/1 Coral, six places, 15/2 generally)
Andrew Mount’s Horse Racing Tips – Thursday, 1st May
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