Friday 2nd July

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A busy weekend of racing ahead of us yet again, and while Sandown’s two-day Coral Eclipse meeting is the feature, finding selections there proved tricky today.

Not least due to the unsure nature of how the ground will be, given the GoingStick readings are pretty low for ground described as a mixture of ‘good to soft’ and ‘soft.’ There are showers forecast today too, so it might be best to hold fire until we get more clarity as the day unfolds.

Without a shadow of a doubt the most interesting horse running today is Kaboo, who was thought highly enough of to make his racecourse debut in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot. Having been backed from 100/1 in places into 13/2, it was clear that this is no ordinary colt. He ran a huge race to finish sixth, given the centre of the straight track that he raced on there was reminiscent of running in quicksand for most of the week.

Anyhow, the first of two selections today comes in the very first race of the day, the 1.00 at Doncaster, a 1m handicap for 3yo’s and upwards.

It is the time of year when three-year-olds come to the fore in all-age handicaps, as they are fast maturing and in receipt of significant weight allowances from the elder horses.

With that in mind, Uraib is worth supporting each-way at 5/1 with Bet365 in the 1.00 at Doncaster, as she is one of a number of eye-catching three-year-olds, but the one most open to a large amount of improvement, given it is her handicap debut.

She has been gifted a very lenient mark of 69, on account of the handicapper woefully undervaluing her fourth-place finish in a fillies’ novice event at Goodwood lately.

Uraib’s profile is as contrasting as you can get with regard to the blend of speed and stamina infused from sire and dam, given her sire Shalaa was a multiple Group 1-winning sprinter, and her dam won over 2m on the flat!

It looks as if, instead of being a case of confused identity, she could be best at a trip somewhere in the middle on the evidence of the Goodwood run.

The other selection today comes from on the infamous hill at Bellewstown, on the second day of their three-day July meeting. It comes in the first division of a 1m4f 45-65 handicap at 7.30 – in the shape of Lusis Naturea, at 13/2 each-way with SkyBet, who are offering four places.

The early market has been shaped by the eye-catching run on Enquire Within in a similar race at the track yesterday, but her best price of 3/1 is a marked over-reaction to her eye-catching effort.

The race in which she was fifth was quite a bit slower than the other division won by Franno, who came out of a better race at Leopardstown three weeks ago, in which he was closely matched with Lusis Naturea.

Given that Lusis Naturea has since won over hurdles, is still 9lbs below his last winning mark from 2019, always hits form in the summer, and has prior placed form at the track, I’m struggling to see how he’s available at 13/2 with SkyBet, and should be backed each-way in the 7.30 at Bellewstown tonight.