There’s just over a month to go, before the 2017 renewal of the Lincoln Handicap (Doncaster, Saturday April 1st). This is a 1m flat race, with a purse of £100,000. Last year, the Lincoln was won by Charlie Appleby’s Secret Brief. Let’s take a look at some of the horses that ante-post bettors are already having a punt on…
View Full Ante-Post Market Now!Yuften
This Invincible Spirit-sired gelding is trained by Roger Charlton and he’s won 3 of his 14 races. Following an impressive victory in his 3rd race, at Newmarket, forme trainer put him into a series of top-class encounters and this seemed to do little for Yuften’s confidence or general progression. Johnny Murtagh took him on at the start of 2016 and was soon rewarded for dropping him in class. Yuften has been Charlton’s inmate since last Autumn and victory in the rich Balmoral Handicap (Ascot), last time out, puts him firmly in contention.
Sacred Act
John Gosden has raced this Oasis Dream-sired gelding extremely sparingly and he’s only been seen on the track 5 times – despite now being a 6-year-old. Oddly, the first 4 outings came in the month of April (2 in 2014 and 2 in 2015) and the last of these was followed by a 16-month hiatus that ended with a narrow victory at Sandown last September. That win led to Sacred Act briefly being favourite for the Cambridgeshire, but stiffness in his hindquarters ruled him out of that encounter. He’ll be a serious player, if anywhere near 100%.
Morando
Out of Moranda and sired by Kendargent (both French), Roger Varian’s grey charge is only a 4-year-old but he’s already a 3-time winner. Victories at Windsor and Chester were followed-up with a cosy defeat of Haley Bop at Ayr, last September. Morando didn’t get much luck in the Balmoral and looked to be capable of much better than 7th place. Before that contest, many pundits had rated Morando as being Group-class and he’s perhaps the most-interesting entrant in this year’s Lincoln.
Obviosly the race is very wide-open and we have also been taking bets on horses such as Victory Bond, Ballet Concerto, Bravo Zolo, Blair House, Flash Fire, Folkswood and Top Notch Tonto.
Racing At Doncaster
Doncaster Racecourse is sometimes called the Town Moor course. Doncaster is a fairly large conurbation, in South Yorkshire.. Of the thirty one group one flat races that are held in the UK, only the Racing Post Trophy and the St Leger Stakes are held here.
However this is still a very important racecourse and one of the largest in the country. We are fortunate that Doncaster racecourse wasn’t closed down, back in the middle-ages! The authorities , at that time, had become highly concerned that men of low repute were being attracted to the course! Thankfully, Doncaster survived and the Doncaster Gold Cup was later established. This race was first run in the middle of the eighteenth century.
The St Leger
The St Leger has been running since 1776. Both colts and fillies may compete (there is a three pounds allowance for female horses) and the distance is just over one mile and six furlongs. You need to go all of the way back to 1945, to find the fastest winning time. Chamossaire holds that honour, with an incredible time of two minutes and fifty five seconds.
Nijinsky won the race in 1970. Needless to say, Lester Piggot was on-board. The Northern Dancer-sired stallion was also a winner of the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The superb mare, Oh So Sharp, was the 1985 winner (when still a filly). Sheikh Mohammed’s horse was also a winner of the Solario Stakes, the Epsom Oaks, the Fillies’ Mile, the Nell Gwyn Stakes and the 1,000 Guineas. Timeform gave Oh So Sharp a rating of 131, in 1985.
Bet At Doncaster, With RaceBets
RaceBets cover all of the meetings at Doncaster. As well as offering highly competitive prices, you will also be able to bet on our head to head markets. This means that you can select one runner to finish ahead of the other selected runner, in our match-up. It does not matter if your selection fails to win the race. So long as it reaches the winning post, before the horse we have matched it against, you will be a winner.
We run a number of exclusive promotions, including our daily Jackpot Freeroll. This gives you the chance to win £5000 every day. The competition is free to enter, for all customers who have bet and deposited a minimum of £10 since joining us.
We also have some great money-back offers (subject to maximum limits), when you are the victim of awful luck! If your horse gets unlucky in a photo finish (and is pipped by only a nose), we will refund your bet. We will also do this if your horse refuses to race, has a fall at the first fence, takes an incorrect turn on the course, or is demoted by the race stewards.
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