Racing tips: Strong form in the book will see Ben Buie tough to beat

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To see Millers Bank not win yesterday was extremely annoying to witness. I feel like the jockey gave him far too much to do, and for most of the race, I thought they weren't going to fully try and use it more as a fitness run. He got involved way too late for my liking, and when he had to concede the amount of weight to the winner, it seemed a little daft to do so. It would've been nice to get 6/1 as drifted odds, but it wasn't meant to be.

Hereford 12:20

It could be a little crazy but I'll be giving a chance to MINELLA ZOOM in the opener at Hereford.

Personally, I don't think this race is particularly strong, and it's in need of a less exposed type to come and win and kickstart their career over obstacles. I think the recent winners in the shape of Manintheshadows and Pottlerath aren't exactly well handicapped. Even though they've won nicely in their last runs, they've had plenty of runs in their career and haven't exactly excelled past their current marks, so chances are they aren't best treated, so with that I have gone for Minella Zoom who seems the best of the unexposed horses.

A mark of 84 is definitely within reach for this handicap debut for Minella Zoom who takes a huge step up in trip for this race, moving from 2m 4f to 3m 1.5f, which should suit considering he was a runner-up on PTP debut over 3m. When something like this happens on handicap debut, it is of major interest to me, as more often than not they've run them over an inadequate trip to get a lower handicap mark, so they could potentially make the most of a low mark and get a couple wins when entering handicaps.

Sheila Lewis isn't a well-known trainer but is having a good time of things at the moment. She is operating at a 18% SR this season, including 2 wins from 6 runners in the last 14 days (33% SR), so her horses are running to form.

As the odds would suggest, there is more chance of him being pulled up, but at 50/1 I think he is worth a small ew bet in hope that he appreciates the step up in trip.

Hereford 12:55

I fell sucker to a similar race earlier in this week where I avoided the clear best hurdles form and went for an unexposed horse who had good bumper form, and the hurdles form came to the fore and won easily, with the experience clearly showing for a lot. So for that reason, I will be backing MARBLE SANDS in this.

This horse has been unlucky not to have won a race over hurdles, racking up 3x runner-up finishes to add to the third-placed finish from his four runs last season. Those four runs resulted in RPRs of 118 (x2), 121 and 128, which are some decent numbers and if he was to run to that form he should be extremely difficult to beat. To show the level he was running at last year, he finished 2nd in his final run of the season in a Grade 3 at Sandown.

You have some interesting contenders in this race, but surely Marble Sands should be an odds-on shot, with the yard and jockey both being in good form and the horse having rock-solid form. So the fact he isn't, makes him a good bet.

Hereford 3:45

Another horse I am rather confident in is BEN BUIE. Martin Keighley's 8yo chaser is on a very attractive handicap mark, and I would be gobsmacked if he doesn't go extremely close to winning today.

He runs off a handicap mark of 85 today, which is 6lbs lower than his last win back in December of last year. Since then, he has gone off the boil, but has started to run back into form and has bumped into some well-handicapped horses who have gone on to win since. His third-placed finish before last time out has seen the 2nd and 4th win since and his most recent start has seen the winner win four times since as well as the 3rd winning by 20L, plus the 5th winning next time around.

A return to this venue is a plus, as it's where he won at last November and the jockey booking of Sam Twiston-Davies is a positive considering the good form he is in and the fact he's already won on him before.

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