Friday Racing Tips: Royal to force his Way to the front at Ludlow

Punters are treated to four meetings on Friday, with two cards over Jumps and a pair of all-weather affairs.

Amongst our Friday fancies is one for trainer Venetia Williams, who should relish underfoot conditions receiving lumps of weight from the entire field.

13:35 Ludlow - Royal Way @ 4/6

Conditions should be quite testing at Ludlow on Friday despite the decent weather forecast, and in the 2m juvenile hurdle, Gary Moore's Royal Way has what it takes to get punters off to a good start.

An impressive winner on the Flat in France in September, the four-year-old ran a respectable race on British and stable debut when third to Castelfort at Sandown in December before only finding leading Triumph Hurdle hope Sir Gino too strong at Kempton during the Christmas period.

Royal Way was beaten 14 lengths on the day, but he was up against a very smart animal, and this assignment looks much easier while he has already proved his effectiveness on soft ground.

The danger is Nicky Henderson's River Gold, who won a French claiming hurdle last summer but disappointed when pulled up on stable debut at Fontwell last month.

14:45 Ludlow - Haut Folin @ 6/4

Five runners are set to go to post for the 3m1½f handicap chase, but a case can be made for them all. However, Venetia Williams' Haut Folin has everything in his favour and looks sure to run a big race.

Williams won this race two years ago with Quick Wave, and the trainer has an impressive 23 per cent strike rate at the track in the last five seasons with 19 winners from 81 runners.

Haul Folin won with ease on his seasonal reappearance in testing conditions at Ffos Las in November.

Although well beaten in third at Market Rasen when last seen, he stumbled badly and lost all momentum three fences from home when right in the mix. If he can avoid a significant error, he can get back on track.

15:20 Ludlow - Magical Escape @ 11/4

The last six runnings of the 2m5½f maiden hurdle have been won by the starting price favourite, so a market watch might prove valuable.

Kim Bailey's Magical Escape would be a worthy favourite off the back of his second behind the Sam Thomas-trained Range over 2m3½f at Chepstow last month, with the pair 41 lengths clear of the remaining runners.

First-time cheekpieces brought about significant improvement, and the lightly raced son of Getaway rallied once headed when last seen, which would suggest this step-up trip could bring about further improvement.

The form of that race has also received a good boost, with the third bolting up at Uttoxeter last month.

Find more Horse Racing Tips here at Betfred Insights