Musselburgh top racing tip: Knightswood ready to hit the ground running
- Steve Jones
- 30 April 2023
With the Flat racing season taking the reins from National Hunt, Tipstrr pundit Steve Jones has cast his expert eye over Sunday’s card at Musselburgh from where he shares his best bet of the day.
Charlie Johnston's four-year-old Knightswood has plenty going for him under this set of conditions, having won two of his three runs on good ground with his only defeat coming in a Class 2 handicap in which he became trapped against the rail.
He has won his only previous 12-furlong start on turf, taking a novices' event over this trip on good ground at Chepstow last summer.
That win now looks very good indeed because he conceded 10 pounds to the runner-up, Berkshire Breeze, who was most recently seen winning a Class 2 handicap over the same trip and who is now rated 89, which is 10 pounds above the mark off which Knightswood runs here.
With the front pair pulling more than five lengths clear of six others, the form looks extremely strong in the context of today's lower-tier Class 4 handicap to be run under the same conditions.
Clearly very attractively treated at present, Knightswood represents a yard that traditionally does very well with middle-distance handicappers.
Suggested bet: Knightswood to win the 17:15 at Musselburgh
His most recent run on turf saw him finish second of eight in what was a higher-tier Class 4 handicap over the shorter 10-furlong trip on the flat track at Redcar last September.
Off three pounds lower in today's lesser handicap, Knightswood also looks better-suited to today's longer trip, and coming here after being gelded during a 150-day break it should be noted that he won a good-ground maiden at Redcar by five lengths after his last significant break, so he is proven to go well fresh.
Next best bet:
Arrange in the 17:15 at Musselburgh
Of the others, the mare, Arrange, is of interest given that she is the sole course-distance winner in the line-up, having won on good ground here last August.
She ended last season by finishing second of 10 in a 0-80 handicap at Pontefract , finishing two places ahead of today's rival, Dark Mystery, despite conceding a stone.
She concedes only seven pounds to Dark Mystery today, so she should be able to confirm that form with that rival, and she looks likely to go very well provided she is primed for this first outing in 227 days (she ran very well first-time out last season).
