It is a busy day of racing in the UK and Ireland on Friday and we have three selections for you…
Ayr is the headline fixture of the day with two Listed contests and it appears distance form could be key in the 5½f Listed Arran Scottish Sprint EBF Fillies' Stakes (2:50). The out of form Gale Force Maya won this contest twelve months ago when facing seventeen other rivals and the victory completed a Listed double for the then-six-year-old.
Although she has not been in the same form since, the Michael Dods-trained mare finished a fair third behind Swingalong in the Group 3 Summer Stakes in mid-July, indicating she retained some semblance of her old ability. The team have made the decision to fit first-time blinkers in the hope of finding some improvement and the return to a suited test may be the key to the mare's resurgence.
SELECTION – GALE FORCE MAYA – 10/1
In a two-runner race, there appears to be plenty of value in the price of Walk In Clover in the 2m5f newtonabbotracing.com Novices' Chase (2:00) at Newton Abbot. Her sole rival Outlaw Peter is hotly fancied at 8/15 but the 2/1 available for Dan Skelton's very capable mare seems a little long. Whilst Outlaw Pete will be making his chase debut for Paul Nicholls, Walk In Clover is very familiar with the bigger obstacles, having raced nine times over fences.
The six-year-old mare recorded a surprise Grade 2 victory in the British EBF Mares' Novices' Limited Handicap Chase Final at Cheltenham in late April and followed up with a win at Southwell over three miles. She did very little wrong when fourth at Uttoxeter in May prior to a break and the experience the mare holds over fences gives her the edge over the favourite.
SELECTION – WALK IN CLOVER – 2/1
For our third selection, we head to Newbury for the 7f Dubai Duty Free Full Of Surprises British EBF Fillies' Conditions Stakes (2:25) where Snafiya can put her experience to good use. The filly carries a three pound penalty compared to her five rivals but she has shown enough to suggest that the current price of 7/1 probably underestimates her ability.
Trained by Alice Haynes, Snafiya has been racing exclusively over six furlongs in recent months and steps up to seven for the first time. The daughter of Blue Point has shown a liking for dominating from the front and she appeared to become outpaced in the closing stages at Goodwood last time, before finding enough to finish one-and-three-quarter lengths third behind Liv My Life. The extra furlong could eke out enough improvement to put Snafiya back on the winning trail.
SELECTION – SNAFIYA – 7/1
