Wetherby racing best bet (13:35): Fontaine Collonges can make up for season debut blunder
Wetherby racecourse
Only six runners line up for Wetherby’s feature race, and Steve Jones, who runs CD Systems on Tipstrr, has his expert eye on a capable chaser looking to make amends for his mishap last time out.
13:35 Wetherby: William Hill Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase (3 miles 45 yards)
It seemed significant that Fontaine Collonges was heavily supported on her seasonal return at Sandown earlier this month, where she was sent off as a clear favourite (5/2) for the London National.
As it transpired, she overjumped at the first fence and unseated her rider, but the fact that she came in for such good support on what was her first run since March suggested that she will likely have been ready to win first time back.
Her last win, which came in November last year, was in a Class two handicap over 25.5 furlongs at Haydock, another left-handed track with a similar oval-shaped configuration, so this combination of conditions looks ideal, and she is only a pound higher than she was that day.
Planet Sport Bet: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if Empire Steel wins by more than 3 lengths, get a £5 Free Bet
In fact, she is effectively two pounds lower for this race than she was for her Haydock win, thanks to the useful claim of jockey Shane Quinlan, who also rode her at Kempton last Christmas, when she finished a very good fourth of 14 in a valuable three-mile handicap on soft ground.
She ran off 137 (4lbs higher than today), only missing the places by a couple of lengths, having been beaten for finishing speed on a sharp, right-handed track which wouldn’t have been ideal.
Her three chasing wins have all been achieved on left-handed tracks with cut in the ground and the mare certainly knows how to win, having scored on six of her 16 career starts.
The Venetia Williams yard is in superb form at present, landing two very valuable chasing prizes at Ascot over the last two days and winning with 13 of 34 runners over the last fortnight (38%).
Suggested bet: Fontaine Collonges in the 13:35 at Wetherby
- Tip advised by Steve Jones who runs CD Systems Daily Bargain on Tipstrr
Of the others, Into Overdrive won a premier handicap over 19.5 furlongs at this venue on his seasonal debut last year, only having to be pushed out to win easily by over three lengths on good-soft ground.
Two runs later, he returned here for this race and won that too, taking the prize from ten rivals off a mark of 142, and he will have been prepared especially for this target on his seasonal return. He looks very likely to go well here once more, off a mark just three pounds higher.
Next best bet: Into Overdrive in the 13:35 at Wetherby
READ MORE: Boxing Day ITV racing tips: Best bets for Kempton, Aintree and Wetherby on December 26
