Racing tips: English Raider to be the Queen of the AW in France

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Gold Emery was a NR on Tuesday. Frustrating to see as I really fancied his chances at Ayr, so I will have to keep my eyes peeled for when he next runs. If I was to have a guess it would be at Bangor where Donald McCain runs a lot of similar types, with it being his local track.

Due to the NR we were left with Espirit Du Potier being the only selection. He wasn't strong in the market and ultimately finished second. The front two pulled well clear of the rest and it was a good performance and I thought the young apprentice gave him a good ride. I don't think I'd touch him again bumper races, but it might be worth following his progress over hurdles, and maybe handicaps tempt me to back him again.

Compiegne 1:47

With the recent success at Auteuil, I thought I'd give the French racing another go. I wouldn't have a bet in this race if I didn't see value, but I think MASTER NONANTAIS offers just that.

Firstly, I'm going to comment on the British runner, Goa Lil. This is a strange combination of owner and trainer. This horse is owned by the trainer, Nigel Twiston-Davies, but is trained by Tom George, why that is, I'm not sure. However, Tom has had a decent time of things when sending his runners to France, showcased with the recent winning selection at Auteuil. This horse recently won a Listed race at this track so has to be respected but based on his British runs I think he is vulnerable to an improver, which comes in the form of Master Nonantais.

The first thing of notice is that James Reveley rides my selection over Goa Lil, though he rode Tom George's horse to his recent Listed success. I'd guess that he had the option of what to ride, so the fact he decided to choose this horse over the market favourite is of major interest to me. Master Nonantais is a 4yo who has only raced four times in his career so arrives to this race being extremely unexposed. James also rode this horse to the horse's only win to date, which came in a Listed race over today's C&D, which reads well. He seemed to win quite nicely in the end of that race and looked like a horse who had more improvement to come, which you'd expect being so lightly raced.

He runs off 10st 6lbs, which is 6lbs lighter than Goa Lil, which could be crucial in testing conditions and I feel like at 7/1 he is being massively overlooked. It's a shame it's only 2 places in this race as 7/1 as an EW bet in this would be cracking, but due to the 2 places I'll be playing him on the nose. I imagine his odds will shorten drastically, as they seem too good to be true.

Deauville 2:40

I know some people on this thread aren't pleased when I put up foreign selections as they prefer the standard UK and Irish horses, which I totally understand, but if I can get winners from anywhere surely it doesn't matter where they race (as long as you can watch the races via the betting apps).

She might be a little shorter than what I was hoping for but QUEEN AMINATU comes into this Listed race as the one to beat. I was extremely impressed by her latest run at Lingfield where she tore apart a decent Listed race with multiple winners in behind. She created an RPR of 110 that day, and it's hard to disagree with that kind of rating as she won with plenty in hand. That win put her AW stats to 3 wins and 2x 2nds from her 5 runs on that surface.

Taking on the French horses in their backyard will be a tough assignment but when you have a horse who looked so well last time out and demolish some very good horses I think you've got to back her again, especially when she hales from a top yard who does well wherever he sends them whether it's Ireland or Europe. My only concern is the jockey. Maxime Guyon is a multiple Group 1 winning jockey, but I've seen him give some horses some absolute shockers in the last season, so as long as he gets her a clear run, she should be difficult to beat.

Haydock 2:37

Coming back to the UK and I've got a selection at Haydock where it is soft ground (when is it not soft ground at Haydock) and I'm backing a horse I tipped on hurdles debut, HULLNBACK.

This race looks like a cracking race for a Wednesday, full of horses who have shown enough on their hurdles run to date and I think it will be a race to follow for the form in the future. However, for me, I think Fergal O'Briens horse could be a fairly smart horse. I feel like he needed that run at Chepstow, probably not as much as some would need after running after a break but when you consider the horses he bumped in to, he might've needed it. The winner Pikar had previously shown decent form from the season before, including running well behind Jonbon. At the time I thought that form might've flattered that horse, but he proved me wrong and ran out a ready winner. The form in behind has started to work out nicely:

• Master Chewy – Finished 3rd and looked set to be a winner Ascot before jumping too boldy at the final hurdle and falling (was 3L ahead at the time)
• Timeforatune – Finished 4th. Has won since and tried winning with a penalty before bumping into another decent type at Taunton last week

Hullnback has decent bumper form which saw him finish 2nd in a Grade 2 at Aintree and 5th in a Listed race at Newbury. Both races normally throw up very nice horses, so to finish in the places he did wasn't a bad effort.

He clearly enjoys the testing ground as we saw him with nicely on stable debut at Chepstow on soft ground and when you combine that with the stable form, I think he will run a top race, it's a shame his price is quite short but I really like him.

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