Horse Racing

Pontefract best bet: Conditions tailor-made for J R Cavagin

Steve JonesSteve Jones30 July 2023
Pontefract racecourse

Pontefract racecourse

With only two meetings in the UK on Sunday, horse racing expert Steve Jones, who runs CD Systems on Tipstrr, has fewer candidates than usual from which to choose his hand-picked Daily Bargain.

17:10 Pontefract: Auntie Maid 50th Birthday Handicap (5 furlongs)

Specialist sprint trainer Paul Midgley has a good record at this track and has won two of the last four renewals of this race, one of them with Johnny Cavagin (also ridden by Graham Lee) for the same owner as J R Cavagin.

Apart from being the top track jockey, Lee is also the yard's main rider and he has ridden twice as many winners for Midgley this year as all the other riders he has used put together (about three dozen of them).
J R Cavagin was backed-in to clear favourite for what looked a stronger course-distance handicap than this one at the start of this month, and he ran a lot better than his finishing position suggests.

Planet Sport Bet: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if JR Cavagin finishes in the first 3 places, get a £5 Free Bet!

On good-firm ground that was faster than ideal, and racing off two pounds higher than here , he was the only one of the principals to stay more towards the far side in the home straight.
His last win, in September last year, came in a higher-graded Class 5 contest at Doncaster where he beat 12 rivals over a galloping 5.7 furlongs. Under Lee again that day, he won off four pounds higher than today's mark and he beat opposition rated up to 76.
Now down in Class 6, he must have a big chance of producing the sort of performance that market support said he should have done here two runs ago. Prior to his Doncaster win last season, his previous success came over the uphill five furlongs at Beverley (on good), so this combination of conditions suits him nicely.
Suggested bet: J R Cavagin in the 17:10 at Pontefract
Of the others, Canaria Price might well out-run his double-figure price under these conditions. His two previous wins came this time last year, with the second success coming on good-soft ground off 56, so he is attractively treated off his current mark of 51.

Next best bet: Canaria Prince in the 17:10 at Pontefract

He loves to go from the front and is ideally positioned for those tactics in stall 2. His last run at this venue saw him beaten only 1.5 lengths after missing the break when sent off clear favourite of 11 off a mark of 60, so he has to be of interest back here off nine pounds lower.

READ MORE: Pontefract racing tips: Best bets for Sunday July 30

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