Breaking It Down: Murt Khan's horse racing tips for Wednesday October 18

16:10 · WED October 18, 2017

Murt Khan's focus falls on Wetherby as the NH expert and professional punter looks for more profits on Wednesday.

3.45 Wetherby preview

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It's easy to look at AFTER HOURS' recent form figures and suggest the horse may be a bit of a thinker; he has finished second five times from his last six starts.

However, in each of his last two runs he caught my eye. At Hereford he shifted out to the left at his fences and for me found himself in front far too soon and was unlucky to get nutted by Crown Hill right on the post.

Next time out I wasn't too sure if he would see out the trip; he travelled and jumped well and looked the winner for most of the race but found Regal Flow a bit too strong for him after the last fence.

In both these races After Hours and the victor finished well clear of the rest of their rivals.

Today he appears after a 202-day lay-off and encounters decent ground over 2m 4f. These conditions will be markedly different compared to his last couple starts. However, he has shown form on decent ground early in his career and with his high cruising speed I think he will be just as effective.

Henry Oliver has had one winner (14/1) and three seconds (66/1, 4/1 and 8/1) from his last six runners so I'm hoping After Hours is fit enough to do himself justice. If so, he will go very close to adding a third win of his career to his CV.

The Phillip Hobbs-trained BALLOTIN is a dark horse on his return to action in first-time cheekpieces and is worth a saver.

2.45 Wetherby preview

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MINELLA ARIS is a real equine beauty and I feel he's the type who can go through the ranks if staying injury free.

He travels with a lot of class and with a clean round I expect him to prove too good for his opposition today.

Recommended bets

1pt win After Hours in 3.45 Wetherby at 7/2

0.5pt win Ballotin in 3.45 Wetherby at 9/2

1pt win Minella Aris in 2.45 Wetherby at 15/8

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Follow Murt on Twitter: @murt_khan