Betfred’s Owen McMahon picks out his best bet from all seven meetings across the UK & Ireland on Thursday 17 August 2023.

I tipped John & Thady Gosden’s QUEEN REGENT for a Class 2 handicap at Glorious Goodwood the other week, but she was withdrawn on account of the heavy ground.

There’ll be no issues regarding conditions at Salisbury on Thursday, for it’s currently ‘good’ with precious little rain in the forecast – and this Class 3, 0-90 affair represents a slightly easier assignment for the three-year-old daughter of the late Roaring Lion.

I was very taken by her performance in a novice contest at Wolverhampton last month when beaten just a length by the 84-rated Value Added, despite giving away 7lbs and doing pretty much everything wrong during the race.

It was a seriously eye-catching performance and, while racing is almost never this easy, if I fancied her to win at Goodwood then surely I do here?

I do. She needs to prove she can be as effective on turf as she has been on the all-weather, and that she’s better than her current mark of 89.

That’s a pound lower than she would have ran off at Goodwood, as Value Added has since bombed out – but that can be forgiven for the filly was keen and encountering heavy ground for the first time.

I’m wary of the in-form Jack Channon’s Flash Bardot and of course Truthful for William Haggas, but not so much that it puts me off my selection.

Queen Regent looks a seriously promising type and I’m putting my faith in her to succeed at Salisbury on Thursday afternoon.