Racing tips: Milton Harris aims to improve on his 47% strike rate at Sedgefield

This tip has expired. Please check our free horse racing tips section of the website to find the most up to date.

If you backed Patient Dream to the 2pt as advised you would've walked away with a profit on the day, albeit small but still profit.

Patient Dream didn't win as easily as I thought. He had front-running tactics like last time but didn't jump the last two particularly well and that allowed the runner-up to put in a late strong surge, but thankfully the line came in time.

Barton Knoll finished second, as did Lepashe. I was more annoyed with Lapashe, he drifted to 9/1 and would've won in my opinion if the last hurdle wasn't removed (not sure why it was) as he was staying on strongly and lost by a head. Barton Knoll was exuberant on the front end and his jumping wasn't great, often brushing the side of the fences. I'd like to see them drop him back to 2m as he doesn't quite see the trip out as well as he should.

Rebel Ivy fell halfway through her race, which was frustrating as I really felt she had a good chance today considering she beat the winner by miles when they last met. Brandy Love clearly needed the run, but based on that effort she will have to improve to win at the Cheltenham Festival.

Sedgefield 2:40 – Mullinaree 7/4 (1pt)

Carrying a big weight is often a hindrance, but when the race isn't great like this, I can see why MULLINAREE is the favourite.

This doesn't look like a strong race. Yes, you have some unknown horses who might find some improvement like the Ben Haslam horse who came from Nicky Henderson, but you're basing it on no form and surely you're taking a chance backing a horse like that unless you've got insider information.

For me, this race is all about the favourite. He has the best recent form on offer with the second-placed effort behind Moveitlikeminnie, who ran well in a Class 2 handicap race the time after and based on that run I think Sedgefield could suit this horse.

Milton Harris has a superb record at this track, he has to send them a long way to Sedgefield, so won't be wanting anything other than a win to make it worthwhile and that's what his strike rate of 47% would suggest from 17 runners at the track. Shrewd is often becoming an overused term these days, but he is a shrewd operator and his training ability has only started to get noticed over the last couple of years because of the better horses he has obtained. With this being his only runner of the day and Mitchell Bastyan's only ride at Sedgefield, everything looks set for a win.

Thurles 1:55 – Brides Hill 4/1 (1pt)

Surely the play in this race is Gavin Cromwell's BRIDES HILL. For the life of me, I cannot be having the two horses shorter in the market in Instit and Telmesomethinggirl.

Telmesomethinggirl was a useful hurdler, but based on her chase runs to date she has hardly set the world alight and doesn't look a complete natural. She beat Instit when they last met and considering the mistakes she made and Instit still couldn't get close to her suggests the form between those two won't change and Instit just doesn't look that good of a horse, she is clearly short in the market because of who she is trained by if it was a lesser known Irish trainer you better believe she would be 5/1 or more.

For me, Brides Hill has done nothing wrong in her three runs over fences. She has bumped into two useful geldings in the shape of Journey With Me and Allegorie De Vassy and now she tackles her own sex, she might be the improver in the field to go and win this and cause a small shock, even though I don't think it is but based on the odds you'd have to say it is. I easily think she is the value in the race and she was a decent hurdler herself, rated 137, and has run well in some decent handicaps and in a Class 1 Listed race on her final start.

Today's trip is an unknown but I have full trust in Gavin Cromwell who is a brilliant trainer and if he believes this step up in trip will bring out improvement, then I take his knowledge on board. With a clear round of jumping, especially early on, she is a big player in this.

Horse Racing Tips

🔗 Share Your Horse Racing Tips on Social Media