Horse Racing Tips: Wednesday 21st December 2016 – Newcastle

14:30 Newcastle – Henpecked @ 13/2

Wednesday’s 14:30 race at Newcastle is seemingly all about the one horse in Go George Go; however, such early market dominance seems unjustified and the red-hot favourite is well worth taking on.

Opposing with Alistair Whillans Henpecked is the way to go here. The six-year-old has some decent form to her name, including over C&D, and drops into less demanding contest.

Having won three times in handicaps, the mare has often given a very good account of herself in better looking races than this one. Last time out (C&D) she was far from disgraced when finishing 6th of 12 in a Class 4 event. Before that she posted a strong 2nd place finish in a field of 13 (Class 5). Today’s Class 5 contest looks undoubtedly easier than both of those races and thus it’s hard to see why she won’t continue to perform well.

There’s plenty of question marks surrounding the opposition in this race. Two of the line-up were well-beaten by the selection two runs back and there’s nothing to suggest that such form would be reversed, while the favourite is taken to continue improving having made a sizable step up in class – something that is never guaranteed.

Alistair Whillans is a trainer with a decent record at the track (the best of any trainer in this field) and it’s fancied that Henpecked will go very well. At odds of 13/2, it’s hard to argue that this runner isn’t overpriced and is certainly the one to be on from a value perspective.

15:30 Newcastle – Ad Vitam @ 10/1 (each-way) (14/1 SP)

Ad Vitam, for trainer Suzzanne France, comes into this contest with a record that is patchy at best, but he might just have entered an event that won’t take an awful amount of winning and should be capable of going well at a nice price.

The eight-year-old has generally saved his best form for the all-weather – twice a winner over this trip at Wolverhampton – and comes here off the back of a couple of respectable efforts since reappearing in October. Having ran with credit to finish 6th (beaten just over 2 lengths) over C&D in a Class 5 back in November, the gelding once again ran an OK race last time out at Wolverhampton.

Considering his handicap rating is slowly falling, so much so that he is now 3lbs below his last winning mark, in a race where only five of the field have previously won over the distance, Ad Vitam is one of probably just a few who really relish this trip – several of the market leaders ideally want further.

With Tom Eaves in the saddle – has generally performed well under this rider – Ad Vitam could easily run a big race.

Off what looks a featherweight, in coming from off the pace, it would be no surprise to see the build on some of that recent promise by swooping late in the day.

17:00 Newcastle – Lotara @ 8/1 (each-way) 

The finale at Newcastle is a competitive affair with no less than 14 runners scheduled to go to post. However, competitive as it may be, Jim Goldie’s Lotara looks to have been found a decent opportunity to show what she’s capable of.

The lightly raced four-year-old has already shown plenty of promise, not to mention speed, in her short career and it would be no surprise if she was able to get seriously involved in this field having slipped down to a very workable looking mark of 59.

Having won a maiden over C&D in decent style, this filly hasn’t quite lived up to expectations in four handicap races since, although she was seen flying home from far too far back over C&D last time out and it’s thought that, if getting out better, she can run a big race. Considering she found herself what was around 20 lengths behind the leaders early on last time out she did incredibly well to finish 5th (of 13), getting to within just over 3 1/2 lengths of the winner.

Connections have tried a couple of distances with her, but it appears as though she’s all about speed so 5f is the one that looks most suitable.

In terms of opposition, this is definitely a lesser event, while one of the chief market rivals was soundly beaten by a horse who finished a good 2-3 lengths behind Lotara in last weeks’ race.

For a trainer/jockey combination who have a decent record around Newcastle’s all-weather track, Lotara is well worth the each-way money at 8/1.

See more tips here.