Aintree - Race Winner v Race Winner

28 August 2009

Preview By Tipster rdeacon (England)

Annoyingly, but rather unsurprisingly there has been a non runner in this heat so the bookies will pay only 1,2,3, but this is still a good bet.

Bel Cantor is trained by Bill Ratcliffe and will be ridden today by Kelly Harrison.

This horse is a bold front runner that can only be ridden one way.

He likes to break quickly and dominate his rivals, something that isn't always easy to do in 6 Furlong races.

However, he might just be able to do so today.

Bel Cantor aside, there doesn't appear to be any other confirmed front runners in this race today.

By that I mean horses that front run on a regular basis.

There are 3 or 4 that like to race prominently, but without leading.

There are also plenty of hold up horses in this race.

That being the case, Bel Cantor might just be able to get out infront and dominate this field here today.

The horse can be frustrating at times, and does seem to need to get his own way out infront.

If he doesn't, then he can often throw in below par efforts.

However, when getting his own way out infront and dominating, he is a tough horse, capable of some useful form.

Bel Cantor is a real 6 Furlong specialist.

The horse has won 9 times in his career, with 8 of those coming over todays 6 Furlong trip.

He is versatile with regards to ground, having won on both Good to Firm and Soft ground.

The ground at Newmarket is Good to Firm this morning, which should be ok.

Should the ground ease with any rain between now and race time, then that shouldn't inconvenience this horse either.

If we go back a year, almost to the day, this horse won a class 2 handicap at Ripon from an effective rating of 79.

He made all that day, in what was a much more competitive race than this today, and won nicely.

He races today in a class 4 handicap, from an effective rating of just 76.

Clearly Bel Cantor is looking very well handicapped today.

Effectively 3 lbs lower than when making all at Ripon almost a year ago to the day.

Todays race is also 2 grades lower than that Ripon win.

Bel Cantor has run some mixed races since then, putting up some good efforts in amongst some poor ones.

The horse can only be ridden one way and does need to dominate to be seen at his best.

Things don't always fall right for him.

However, with no other obvious confirmed front runners here today, he might just get things run to suit.

The horse seems to go well for todays jockey.

Kelly Harrison has won 3 times on the horse previously, including that impressive Ripon success last August.

As we say on a regular basis with regards to how the race will be run, riding tactics can change.

Just because a horse hasn't front run previously, doesn't always mean it won't today.

Changes of tactics happen, and there's not too much we can do about that.

All we can do is go with what we see, which is that Bel Cantor is the only real confirmed front runner here today.

That being the case, he might just get his own way out infront and be able to dominate.

If things turn out that way, then he has the ability to prove tough to catch in this grade.

At the prices available this morning, it is worth taking a chance that Bel Cantor gets his own way out infront.

4 points EACH WAY (8 points in total) BelCantor at 13.0 with William Hill in the 5.10 Newmarket