Bet of the day: Thursday’s racing

Kauto looks a star

It’s been a difficult week to find winners so far, but we go in again on Thursday, with meetings scheduled at Chelmsford, Huntingdon, Sedgefield, Wolverhampton and Thurles, as the UK and Irish timetable moves up a gear.

Click here to bet on all of Thursday’s horse racing, and we aim to help out with our NAP and next best, which you will find below. On the move? Scroll to the bottom of the page for a selection in every race, which should come in handy when building your multiple bets.

We focus our attentions on matters in Durham, where a snappy six-race card gets going at 2.10pm with a handicap hurdle disputed over two-miles. The winner of that, by our thinking, should be Strait Run, but our best of the afternoon isn’t seen until the penultimate test of the day.

Hat-trick seeking Kauto

Due at 4.30pm, Kauto Riko looks a shrewd pick in the two-mile three-furlong handicap hurdle. Jockey Brian Hughes’ ride was last seen in winning form, and arrives at track chasing a hat-trick. Following success at Market Rasen on Boxing Day, the progressive six-year-old banked the prize money at Catterick only last week.

The selection caught the eye on that occasion, coming home with plenty in hand, with nearest rival Tomkevi, who re-opposes here, trailing six-lengths behind. Kauto Riko has been hit with a 7lb penalty as a result, but he has barely put a foot wrong this season and looks more than capable of taking that on the chin.

Chakisto chasing a treble

We’ll be looking to Kauto Riko to complete the double, with our next best of the day, Chakisto, lining up in the race before, a two-mile handicap chase. Of the six-runners billed, Tim Vaughan’s rep is the one for us. He is another hat-trick chaser, having won each of his last two, around Wincanton and Newcastle.

Those positives came going over hurdles, but he has proven in the past that this sphere is well within his capabilities and appears to have been very well handicapped, if giving his best. Followers of the stats will be quick to remind us that jockey Alan Johns, who takes the ride today, has a respectable 29 per cent strike rate in the last two weeks, and that’s worth keeping close.

Sedgefield Selections

2.10 – Strait Run

2.45 – Make Me A Fortune

3.20 – Louis Vac Pouch

3.55 – Chakisto

4.30 – Kauto Riko

5.05 – Winston Churchill

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