Friday Night Racing: Fanning To Take Rivals To School

Plenty of late action to get stuck into this coming Friday with three evening cards on offer for our punting pleasure. With so much choice I will be spreading the cash around with a selection from each of the three meetings.

Newmarket 7:10 Fly London Southend Airport To Dubrovnik Fillies’ Novice Stakes

This looks a pretty hot Novice contest with the weights being headed by impressive last time out scorer Scottish Jig. That one may well prove tough to beat here but does have to concede 7lbs to a number of nicely bred runners including the Dubawi duo of Anaakeed and Arabian Gift. The latter of those looks particularly dangerous going for Charlie Appleby who does so well in these races, but he has had two goes without success now and we just prefer an each way punt on one of the newcomers in the field.

Step forward Rawdaa from the yard of Sir Michael Stoute. Sired by Teofilo and out of a dam in Lady Lahar who has already produced six winners – three of whom have reached a rating of 100+ – he makes as much appeal as any in this field on paper. Ryan Moore is operating at a 22% on Stoute trained three year olds in the past five years and takes the ride.

Tip:  Rawdaa each way

Hamilton 7:55 British Stallion Studs EBF Glasgow Stakes

The highlight of Hamilton’s Friday night card is this Listed class contest held over 1m3f. Only five runners on show but its hard to rule any out with confidence in what looks a competitive affair. Ventura Knight and Shailene arrive on a high on the back of a win last time out, whilst Raymond Tusk must be held in some regard at home having been pitched into the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse last time out. He in particular is feared but the one I like is the Mark Johnston runner, Austrian School.

Four from nine under rules, he is proven at up to 1m6f and will be ideally served by turning this into a test of stamina. The field here is packed with prominent races, although none who actually likes to lead. As such this looks ideally set up for Joe Fanning to take the bull by the horns and make the running. An astute judge of pace, we expect Joe to get on the front end early and wind this up knowing that he has more staying power in his locker than his four rivals.

Tip: Austrian School to win

Pontefract 7:00 Great British Racing Supports Jack Berry House Novice Stakes

Mark Johnston also has solid claims in the staying Novice contest at Pontefract in the form of the only previous winner in the line-up Hibernicus. This one scooted up at Carlisle last time out and will likely be all the rage in the betting despite a 7lb penalty for that success. It’s hard to knock the claims of this son of Sea The Stars but we suspect the value in the race may lie with a runner who took a big step in the right direction last time out.

Having been outpaced on debut at Beverley, James Fanshawe’s The Pinto Kid looked much more at home when stepped up to 1m3 ½f at Lingfield last time out when seeming to feel the benefit of a first time tongue-tie. The penny almost visibly dropped inside the final furlong that day as he stayed on just about best of all to beaten just 3 ¾l. With further progression likely here and this extra ½f on a stiffer track also likely to be in his favour he is fancied to be involved in the finish.

Tip: The Pinto Kid each way