Racing tips: Opening Bid’s accurate jumping will be key to victory at Exeter

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Both of Wednesday's horses were smashed in the betting and we walked away with nothing to show for it. Minella Plus went off 3/1 joint fav, after being put up at 11/1 and Western Soldier went off at 5/4F when stuck up at 5/2.

Exeter 2:50 – Opening Bid 13/8 (1pt PaddyPower)

With this race being full of horses who are very inconsistent I think Opening Bid has a nice chance of landing another win over fences, which will make it his fifth this season.

I watched this horse run over fences at Warwick last time out and for a novice, he is a superb jumper and the switch to fences has turned him into a completely different horse. He is very accurate over his fences and doesn't waste much time in the air, which is what you want from a chaser. He didn't manage to win last time out, and though that was off a career-high mark and it isn't surprising to see him not win, I thought he ran with plenty of credit and probably bumped into one that day who might be able to progress again.

The rest in this field are very iffy. Some are on very tempting handicap marks, but as I've witnessed over the last week or two, it doesn't mean much as if they're out of form, they're out of form and that's generally for a reason.

Exeter 3:25 – Newmill Getaway 2/1 (1pt Bet365)

This doesn't look to be a strong mares' maiden hurdle, with the bumper and hurdles form on offer not looking the best. Newmill Getaway has the best bumper form in my opinion, and she has a decent jumps pedigree to match, so she gets my vote on hurdles debut.

She has finished 3rd, 1st and 2nd in her three bumper runs to date, as well as a fourth on her sole PTP start. PTP form is always difficult to weigh up, but the fact she finished a decent fourth and not too far behind the winner suggests she has plenty of ability and that she is a sound jumper, so you can take some optimism into the race tomorrow knowing she has some jumping experience on a track. The bumper form isn't ridiculous, but it's solid enough and in a weak race like today I think she can make a winning debut for father/son combination, David and Connor Brace.

David has been in good form over the summer, having five winners from 24 runners, with his hurdler stats being 4 wins from 12 runs.

Exeter 4:35 – Red Happy 15/8 (1pt)

I'm not a fan of the way that Red Happy has been pretty much racing on the go since David Pipe got him from France, as he now sits at 44 career starts as a 6yo, but despite that and the poor form prior to last time out, I thought his most recent run was a return to form and he can run a big race today.

This horse is versatile over the trips, he has won over 2m 3f (today's trip) and he has won over 3m and run well over even further, so it's hard to put down what is his best trip, but I'd like to say it's the shorter trip which he races over today as he managed to land a hattrick when he a newbie to the Pipe yard back in 2022. He managed to win off 106, 113 and 120 and then finish 2nd off 128 at this and similar trips so he is undoubtedly well-handicapped. I touched on well-handicapped sucking punters in, but this horse managed to finish 2nd last time out, it was over 3m 2f, but it was a step in the right direction and now with Jack Tudor back in the saddle I think he has a solid chance in this race against lighter raced horses over fences.

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