Jamie Maynard: Free horse racing betting tips for Chelmsford Thursday January 4

Horse Racing

Thu January 04, 2018 · 7y ago

Our all-weather expert Jamie Maynard is back with two bets for Chelmsford this evening - with Martin Dwyer on board one of them.

Best bets:

1845 Bet toteJackpot At betfred.com Handicap
This is quite a competitive heat for it’s grade and there’s many with viable chances. Lagenda has been knocking on the door recently with a couple of near misses over this course and distance and is technically 7lb lower with his jockey Ger O’Neill’s claim coming into play but will have to overcome a wide draw.

Adam Kirby is a rare jockey booking for Ed Walker and he’s aboard Bold Prediction who has scored several times from higher marks previously but is returning from a 181-day absence which he has struggled to overcome in the past. Ebtkaar is entitled to go close having finished a good second on stable debut over a furlong shorter here last month. He gets to run off the same mark here on only his second attempt in handicap company. He looks the main danger but the one I’m siding with is the four-year old filly WICKER from the Jane Chapple-Hyam yard.

She’s another who is lightly-raced in this field and arrives here with a victory in a maiden over track and trip. Now back in a handicap on the same mark as when a solid second again here in the exact same conditions she looks more than capable of scoring. She’s been handed a nice draw and Martin Dwyer has a decent record when teaming up with this trainer so with those specifics factored here I believe with a clear run this filly can go very close.

1945 Bet toteexacta At betfred.com Handicap
The feature race on the card will be a quick-fire event over the minimum five-furlong trip and although a low draw is usually key here it shouldn’t prove that much of a factor with only six going to post. Stuart Williams saddles a third of the field and you’d have to think the least favoured would be Compass Scoobie on jockey bookings. He was only beaten two-and-a-quarter lengths on first start for this handler though and may come on for that run especially as he’s unbeaten on the polytrack but the two to focus on from a form perspective are the two who head the market.

The other trained Williams runner Royal Birth was a neck second at Lingfield latest behind subsequent winner Gracious John and has obvious claims having won a couple of course and distance handicaps but he’s 8lb above his highest winning mark and may struggle to concede 4lb to UDONTDODOU.

This gelding has won three of his four visits to the Essex track (third on other occasion). The past couple of victories have been his best efforts and, although this is a slight step up in class, there should be more improvement to come being a five-year old who is still relatively lightly-raced. He also arrives here fresh and has won both his starts after coming off a break, so fingers crossed Robert Winston can steer him to a fourth course success.