Hereford best bet: Only Fools primed to bounce back from recent setback
- John Fearn
- 24 May 2024
Hereford’s Friday evening entertainment, sponsored by PlanetSportbet, continues with this mares’ handicap hurdle, which should be a competitive affair despite its depleted field.
19:00 Hereford: Download The PlanetSportBet App Mares’ Handicap Hurdle (2 miles 3½ furlongs)
With two of the scheduled starters having been sent to Thursday’s Market Rasen meeting instead, the prices of the six remaining starters have all tightened, leaving unfancied Chinook as the only rank outsider, and she will need first-time blinkers to have a dramatic effect to make an impact here.
At the top end of the market, Al Sayah has emerged as the clear short-priced favourite, and that support could well be justified if Neil Mulholland’s four-year-old is able to replicate her dominant four-length success over a similar distance at Fontwell 16 days ago.
Planet Sport Bet Daily Special: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if Al Sayah wins by more than 5 lengths, get a £5 Free Bet
Inchiquin Spirit is still searching for her maiden success, and that wait could well continue unless she is able to improve upon her two pulled-up efforts in three outings this year.
Offering arguably better value is Triple Nickle, who appeared to benefit from an all-weather pipe-opener on the Flat six days before coming second over hurdle at Ffos Las a couple of weeks ago.
Pick of our bunch, however, is the top-rated and duly top-weighted Only Fools, who cut her hurdling teeth with two wins and handful of near misses on the French circuit two seasons ago.
Suggested best bet: Only Fools in the 19:00 at Hereford
Her subsequent move across the Channel to David Pipe’s yard resulted in wind surgery within a few months, since when the five-year-old has further advertised her hurdling capabilities with a couple of wins over the last six months.
The most recent of those successes came in heavy going at Fontwell in late March, so she clearly has the ability to bounce back from a less auspicious mid-division finish at the same venue last time out 16 days ago.
Pipe’s runners boast a 63 percent place rate at the Hereford track, and in a race of this nature, and in the capable hands of Jack Tudor, she looks good value to make the each-way frame in a race of this nature.
- Tip advised by Each Way Value Tips on Tipstrr
READ MORE: Hereford racing tips: Best bets for Friday May 24
