An eight-race card at Auteuil this afternoon and we head to the juvenile hurdle for our bet on the card, with Redneck appealing on his fourth career start.
He has looked a work in progress in his three runs so far, and was much too keen on his second start, at Strasbourg in June. However, he showed ability that day and certainly did so at Auteuil on his seasonal return, with Antony Renard on for the first time. Settled in rear, he went from last to first in the back straight, which is an aggressive move on the incline, and paid for that from the second-last. However, he once again showed he has the ability to win races, and his yard’s runners tend to improve for their reappearance efforts.
A mark of 57 shouldn’t normally be enough to win a level weights contest here, but I’m not convinced about the strength of this race – favourite Oxygene is certainly a nice prospect, but he won only an average race on debut, while Miralago, who was just a length in front of our selection here last time, is considerably less than half the price.
Donatien Sourdeau de Beauregard is a very good trainer, operating at 18% this term, and his team couldn’t be in better form, with five winners from their last six runners. The fact he brings Redneck back at Auteuil is a vote of confidence both in his ability and that he has progressed from his reappearance last month, so the 8-1 on offer feels a shade too big.
12.58pm Auteuil – 1pt win, 0.5pt place Redneck @ 8-1 (most firms)
