Penworthy

Two soft-ground specialists for Newbury

  • From Spectator Life
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The heavy rain of the past 48 hours is good news for two horses that I fancy for the ultra-competitive Betfair Hurdle tomorrow (Newbury, 3.15 p.m.). The ground is now ‘heavy, soft in places’ and more rain forecast later today.

I put up BRENTFORD HOPE at 14-1 for the race four weeks ago and his best form on the Flat means that he is well weighted over hurdles, particularly now that he has his favoured cut in the ground. His trainer, Harry Derham, is in sparkling from with three winners from 11 runners in the past fortnight, for a 27 per cent strike rate.

I still like his price of 14-1, now seven places, and so I am, unusually, going to back him again with a further one point each way bet with William Hill at those odds. William Hill and SkyBet are the two bookies offering seven places, compared with others offering six or five places.

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