Catterick – Thursday 13th January

It looked a wise call to sidestep the racing yesterday as racing as Leicester was not only tricky but also littered with races with omitted fences. Those types of days can get messy with results seeming unpredictable – and we have a chance to have a more settled option at Catterick today, who offer up a good seven race card. 

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of the prior articles, January is a tough month to back winners and to find viable betting opportunities – so I am really trying to take a disciplined approach to not harm any long term profits we have secured. 

With that in mind, there is only one daily selection for today – but keep an eye out for my Lucky 15, which will feature some of the fancies that I nearly put up. 

And the selection comes in the 1.40 race today and this 3m1f novices handicap chase has attracted a field of nine to post. This is a 0-105 race so the standard is not mesmerising, but the favourite Tumbling Dice does appear here after a win last time out over this course and distance, defying an odds on shot in the process. That was off a mere mark of 69, and he has been raised five pounds for that effort. He is still off a light weight and it is very plausible that this horse could well follow up – but at this level, a lot of horses might not be the most trustworthy and I’ll allow him to win at his price. 

Instead, I am going to be taking a chance on a horse that has been out of sorts for quite a while, but continues to slip and dive down the weights and down the grades. That horse is Spider’s Bite, who was once rated in the 130s when trained by Henry Daly and has slipped a monumental 30 pounds over the last two seasons when being trained by Neil Mulholland and now, Adam Nicol. 

He ran a credible race in a similar grade to this race last time out at Musselburgh and has dropped another five pounds for that performance – which might just give him a chance. He has been very inconsistent, I will admit, and there are probably a few more letters than you’d like to see in his form figures – but he is quite clearly a horse with some ability, and he showed during the summer that there is still something in the tank. 

Off a career low mark in a weak race, he can fancied at an each way price. At 12/1 with SkyBet, who offer 4 places on the race – I’m taking the chance.