Race meetings at courses including York, Sandown and Chester offer decent fare for horse racing enthusiasts this weekend but many will already be looking forward to Royal Ascot’s five-day extravaganza beginning on Tuesday.
York, in particular, stages some competitive handicaps tomorrow including the 22-runner Churchill Tyres Supporting Macmillan Sprint Handicap (3.35 p.m.) over a distance of six furlongs.
Ed Walker’s Golden Brown, who is a nice ride for an apprentice, looks overpriced for this contest. The three-year-old gelding has been slowly getting better with racing, finally scoring on his ninth run when victorious at Salisbury last month from a poor draw.
Walker reports that this race, worth nearly £65,000 to the winner, has been Golden Brown’s target for some time so back him 1 point each way at 18-1 with bet365, paying six places. The long list of dangers is headed by Fortification, who has run two big races at York on his last two starts and he looks likely to improve again for the step up in distance from the minimum trip.
In the earlier Sky Bet Supporting Macmillan Handicap (2.25 p.m.) over seven furlongs, I can see the Ian Williams trained Aalto returning to form although he is tricky customer to catch right.
