There was no Sunday Lucky 15 last week due to not enough horses standing out to put them into a combination bet.
Today's racing is solid and full of competitive handicaps where you can find good value.
Suite Francaise 8/1 (3pl) – Haydock 1.15
There are probably better horses in this race than Suite Francaise, Prague being one of them, but the way this filly runs at Haydock makes her of interest.
She is 2/2 at Haydock and has made the running on both occasions. She gets the weight allowance for being a three-year-old filly, and I think they will plan on making the running again. Her best chance of winning is if they let her get an uncontested lead, like last time. Joe Fanning is definitely in the twilight stage of his career, but he is one of the best at judging pace, so he is the perfect man for the job. He gave her a beautifully judged ride over C&D last time out, and a repeat performance might be good enough to win this.
Ride The Thunder 10/1 (4pl) – Haydock 2.25
William Haggas fields a lightly raced horse towards the bottom of the weights, that is a horse who has to be respected given he won this race with a similar type a few years ago. Not only that, many in this have solid form and it's a very good race, which isn't a surprise given the prize money on offer.
In races like this, I like to take a chance on unexposed horses who aren't guaranteed over the trip. Ride The Thunder was the one which I decided to settle on as his pedigree points towards him wanting this trip, and last time out at Goodwood he stayed on inside the final furlong despite not getting the clearest of runs through.
Sword 18/1 (5pl) – Ascot 2.40
For whatever reason, we have not seen the best version of Sword since his impressive third-placed effort at Royal Ascot. As a result, he is at very big odds, and I'm hoping the return to Ascot is the key to bring him back to form.
He finished third in an arguably better race than this, and he is only 1lb higher in the handicap. He didn't get the clearest of runs through at Ascot in July, so that makes his performance even better. The form of that race has been franked by the winner who went on to win the Stewards Cup at Glorious Goodwood.
Binhareer 10/3 (5pl) – Ascot 4.25
I've tipped up Binhareer on his last two starts, and I think we should have walked away with two wins instead of just one.
Last time out, he showed that he is still learning on the job. He hit the front and was a couple of lengths ahead, but continued to wander and not run in a straight line, which meant he was robbed on the line by the closing horse. He is still a very good horse, who is still on an attractive handicap mark. He has shown that he handles this type of ground by winning on soft last year, so I make him one of the horses to beat in this race.
GambleAware