Tipping Tim’s Weekend Bets
Published:I like Valentine’s Day because, having backed seven losers in a row at Lingfield, I see all the youngsters on the bus with their thirty-quid bouquets of roses and take comfort in the fact that I’m not the biggest mug in London. Unfortunately, four hours later they are walking beautiful young lasses home and I am sat on my sofa watching a delayed feed on the 9.20 Wolverhampton so, as usual, the last laugh is on me. All I can hope for is a few winners tomorrow, and if this Trixie goes in my wife will finally be showered with the gifts that she so richly deserves (so long as you can buy them in a Tesco Extra).
The nap has to be Spa’s Dancer in the 3.25 Lingfield. This is a cracking race with plenty of in-form beasts, but few have the class of James Eustace’s giant 7yo. He doesn’t take that much racing but when he makes it to the track he tends to mix it with decent horses and, with the yard amongst the winners, he should be ready to go. He is six pounds below his turf mark and, given his respectable Polytrack record, that might make all the difference is this trappy contest.
The next best tomorrow is old favourite Temple Road (5.00 Lingfield). He is just the sort of strong travelling screw that I fall for time and time again, but I do think he deserves one more chance. He might have needed the run when I tipped him up here last month, and he was rushed off his feet over five furlongs at Wolves last time. If he flatters to deceive again tomorrow I will definitely end this beautiful friendship, but he deserves one last roll of the dice.
For the Trixie I’m going to side with one of my favourite yards at Lingfield and chuck in Jo Crowley’s Captain Starlight in the 4.30. He has shown enough in his six career-starts to suggest that a mark of seventy-three isn’t insurmountable, and he should be cherry-ripe after his eye-catching return to action at Kempton.
Good luck with all your bets this weekend!
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