Horse Racing Tips: Buddy could be the one at Wexford

Cheltenham hosted their first fixtures of the season over the weekend, which means National Hunt racing is back in full swing. That being said, there’s plenty of Flat racing on the schedule for Monday.

Galway is the first meeting to kick off, before Ayr, Redcar, Leicester and Wexford, whilst Newcastle and Southwell continue the action in the evening. We’ve picked out three horse racing tips across the day and they include a massively unexposed chaser with a fitness advantage in Wexford’s Listed feature race.

12:47 Ayr - Destiny Is All @ SP

Lucinda Russell’s DESTINY IS ALL was probably a little bit disappointing at times last term but the positive consequence of that is that he’s now very well treated. 

His most recent victory came on seasonal debut last term, which means now could be a good time to catch him.

That aforementioned victory came off a 3lb higher mark at Kelso last October and that suggests he’s definitely capable of coming out on top here. 

The good to soft ground should very much be to his liking, as he’s yet to finish outside of the first three in six starts on it. This also includes two wins, which is definitely a positive omen, and a return to winning ways shouldn’t be ruled out on that evidence.

15:20 Wexford - Buddy One @ 15/8

Emmet Mullins’ Corbett Cross and John Gilligan’s BUDDY ONE arguably bring the best pieces of form to the table here and the latter is fancied to come out on top here. 

The son of Sans Frontieres showed some fine form in Grade 1 staying hurdles in the spring and appears to be progressive.

Gilligan’s seven-year-old surprised a few by finishing fourth in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival but confirmed that it wasn’t a fluke when runner-up in the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree. 

Filling the fourth spot at Punchestown after that, he returned to winning ways when scoring on his chasing debut at Galway earlier this month. 

The ratings suggest that Buddy One has a fair amount to find with Corbetts Cross but Emmet Mullins’ runner was disappointing on seasonal debut last term and he might find life difficult against his race-fit rival here.

15:28 Ayr - Home Free @ 13/8

Dan Skelton has amassed a small army to send up to Ayr on Monday and one of the most interesting candidates is HOME FREE. Having only had two starts over fences thus far, the six-year-old should be capable of finding loads of improvement.

Skelton’s gelding had wind surgery over the summer and his game victory at Uttoxeter on seasonal debut suggests it had the desired effect. 

There’s one caveat to consider about that performance, he jumped slightly right throughout and it wouldn’t be ideal if that becomes a regular thing.

The handicapper has responded with a 4lb rise but Skelton’s runners have been improving for their first starts and it would be no surprise if this lad was to follow suit. Two miles seems to be his trip and he won a maiden hurdle in good style at Lingfield in March.

It’s unlikely that we’ve seen the best of this horse just yet and a mark of 119 could underestimate him by some way. With just three of his eight starts coming in handicap company, he should be winning plenty of races before the handicapper catches up.

This is an Extra Place Race, so Betfred will be paying 3 Places (1/5 odds) instead of 2.

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