Tuesday Southwell top racing tip: Legal Reform can bounce back over preferred trip
- Steve Jones
- 24 January 2023
After yesterday's tasty 15/2 winner, Tipstrr racing pundit Steve Jones is looking to back it up with his best bet of the day in the opening race of Tuesday evening's all-weather meeting at Southwell.
There appears to be plenty in which a chance of contesting this handicap, including Ring Of Gold, who ran a solid fourth of 12 in a stronger field over a mile around this course just before Christmas.
His record over this distance on the all-weather now reads 211, all at Kempton, but he also acts very well on this circuit and this drop back to his optimum trip gives him a decent chance despite a wide draw and a career-high mark.
But one who can beat him today is Ivan Furtado's Legal Reform, who is likely to to come on for his return to action here last month, which followed a 415-day absence and was over a longer distance than his optimum.
That one-mile handicap was a stronger heat than today's, featuring runners rated up to 76, and it was won by the highly progressive Zealot, who had won his previous start and who subsequently won his next two to complete a four-timer.
Zealot went from the front and made every yard, and he was clearly going to prove very difficult to stay with, even for his race-fit rivals.
17:30 (Southwell) Legal Reform
The one who went off in earliest pursuit of Zealot was Legal Reform, who eventually paid for those efforts in the closing stages, but he was still there fighting for the places approaching the furlong pole, so it was an encouraging effort over a trip that is further than he wants to go, especially on his first outing after such a long break.
He also had to contend with a wide draw, and the tender way in which he was handled once his chance had gone in the final furlong should pay dividends today.
With that run behind him, he now drops back to a preferred seven furlongs from a more favourable draw, with his last winning rider, Kieran O'Neill, on board carrying two pounds less.
Prior to the surface at this venue being changed from Fibresand to Tapeta, Legal Reform had become a course-and-distance specialist with figures of 2123.
There has since been a large number of previous course specialists who have proved equally effective since the surface has been changed to Tapeta.
Legal Reform certainly travelled very well until a combination of lack of a recent run, a longer trip from a wide draw, and a returning tongue-tie (which had never worked previously and is now discarded), conspired against him in the home straight last month.
He should be a different proposition this time and his final course-distance run before his absence, which was also under O'Neill, saw him finish third of 14 in a far stronger 0-82 contest in which he ran off 74, so he has to be of interest here in a 0-72 off 71.
Next best bet: Ring Of Gold
