2009 PORTLAND HANDICAP BETTING TIPS

We've got two very prominent races happening at Doncaster this Saturday during the 2009 running of the St. Leger Festival. Much of the attention is focused on the Portland Handicap and the 3:10 St. Leger. The 2009 Portland Handicap boasts a number of top runners and there looks to be a very competitive four-way competition happening at the top. Markab is the current favourite across most UK bookmakers with Jaconet, Pavershooz and Johannes the other strongest contenders. Markab is fresh off his first win of the season winning his fourth shot at a Heritage Handicap this season. He comes into the race 6-4-4-1 on the year with his victory coming August 16th at Ripon against a field of 17. Pat Cosgrave is confirmed for the ride and a lot depends on the final furlong for me. I anticipate Cosgrave will get him into the right spot on the stretch and should he be able to edge it inside and keep up the pace (I think he has more closing pace than the others here) I think he'll pull this one off. At his 6/1 price with 888sports, I think you've still got plenty of value to work with. Jaconet is listed at 6/1 with 888 as well, but many other sites have him as the 2nd favourite. He's taken two on the bounce- one of which came last week on the September 4th Burstow Handicap at Lingfield. He also scored in the Soldiers Charity Handicap at Wolverhampton in mid-August. He's been heavily-raced this year and is at 1-1-1-15-3-10-3-1-1 on the season. He looks like a streaky horse that has found a rich vein of form again and could be a good choice for the win. Pavershooz isn't exactly the fanciest horse, but he brings some quality results against large handicap fields into the mix. He is currently 3 from 4 in a busy racing season. He's been laid-off since July and despite having some solid wins I find he generally doesn't win after a lay-off. I think he's a great place bet and could provide some each-way value. I don't see him besting Jaconet or Markab. 888sport lists him at 8/1. Johannes is the other strong ante-post contender and he comes into the race with a 10/1 price. He has four wins from seven races this year, including the Rolf Group Stewards' Sprint Stakes at Goodwood where he topped out a field of 22. I think he will factor into this race considerablt, but I find him just a notch or two below Jaconet and Markab. He will attract some value bettors and could be set to benefit from any mistakes from the front two. Other notables include 16/1 Everymanforhimself, who scored in the Racing UK Handicap at Haydock in early August. Judge 'n Jury is also an interesting selection and could attract some of the value punters. He is also at 16/1 and has one Heritage Handicap victory this season with two other top 3 finishes. I'm making a reverse forecast on Markab/Jaconet and I will be backing Judge 'n Jury for the place.