Racing tips: Heavy conditions will not faze the talented mud lover Brentford Hope

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The value was on I'd Like To Know, which I thought wasn't going to be the case as he was backed into 11/10F and won with ease. My fancy drifted like a barge with the money coming in for the Gordon runner and ran accordingly. I don't think the ride was particularly special by letting those ahead get a 10L length headstart turning for home, and it seemed odd that he was knackered considering he runs over further, so maybe he did bounce after the win from the long layoff. 

Newbury 3:00 – Brentford Hope 13/8 (2pt, WilliamHill)

I stuck up Brentford Hope for the Betfair Hurdle when he was a NR, so if I felt like he was worth a bet for that race he has to be a bet for this lesser event.

Newbury has an inspection in the morning as they are expecting some more rain/sleet, and on already heavy ground it is going to be very testing conditions out there so having a horse who'll handle the ground is a must. I was surprised when they decided to take Brentford Hope out of the Betfair Hurdle on testing ground as I thought that type of ground would be suited for him given his wins on testing surfaces on the flat.

Brentford Hope burst onto the scene a fair few years ago when he was just a 2yo, trained by Richard Hughes at the time. He soon got a reputation as a horse who had a high cruising speed, especially on soft ground. He hosed up on soft ground on his debut and I'd recommend rewinding the clock back to October 2020 when he sluiced up at Haydock on heavy ground, like a hot knife through butter under a smooth Jamie Spencer who didn't move a muscle. He loves this type of ground, but since moving to hurdles he hasn't experienced anywhere near this soft ground, but has still been running with great ability, hence why he is rated 134. I just think now he's got his ideal ground he might have 7-10lbs in hand, especially given his flat ability and speed, and this track has already proved to have suited him well with wins and good efforts at this venue.

Doncaster 2:35 – The Big Bite 16/1 (0.5pt EW, WilliamHill 3pl)

My wild pick of the day comes at Doncaster in the very competitive Class 2 chase, and I like The Big Bite.

It's very interesting to see this horse turn up for this race as he could have easily gone to Newbury for the race he won last year where he would've had a very nice chance of winning off a 1lb lower than when he won it 12 months ago, so it's seems like a potential tip in itself that they are going to Doncaster in this race which is tougher on paper and has less money on offer to the winner.

His inconsistent form is a tad offputting, but given that he won a race on this day last year after showing very little in his previous races suggests that they like to lay him out for certain races and getting to those races in peak conditions is the route they're going down. The track has been good for The Big Bite as he won at this track over 2m 4f off a mark of 138 (4lbs higher than today's rating), and he has finished 2nd in a Class 2 off 144. Those runs were a couple of years ago, so he isn't going to be as good as he was back then, but off a winnable mark like today he is a lively EW candidate for this.

Ben Jones is an eyecatching jockey, and a rare pick from Henry Oliver who hasn't used Ben all too often, and given the form that the jockey is riding at, it points towards a big run.

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