Doncaster Lincoln Day Betting Preview Part One

There is a huge amount of excitement building amongst patrons of flat racing as the de facto kick-off of the season, the William Hill Lincoln, is set to run this Saturday at Doncaster. While we’ve already taken a look at some of the main contenders for the day’s feature, there is plenty of action left on the card so we’ll be taking a look at the other races in this two-part preview.

It appears as though Doncaster will not water for Saturday so we will be expecting things to skew a bit fast.

2:05

The Spring Mile gets us off to a big start with a number of these contenders using this race as a seasonal debut. Mata Keranjang (More Than Ready) has recently been halved in price and he looks a very solid selection if he can fire off the lay-off. The issue with this contender is that he has only won once in thirteen tries and that was a fairly one-dimensional looking race when he went off as the 1/4 favourite. He has acquitted himself well against quality contenders in the past but looks more of a place option than anything else. Kalk Bay (Hawk Wing) is taking some money and looks the 11/2 lukewarm favourite at the moment. He’ll also be using this as a seasonal debut and he really needs to step it up from a ratings perspective. Sir George () can be had at a tasty 25/1 price and he has a fairly solid record on the handicap circuit and his versatility could prove decisive here. He was campaigned from January to October last year and will have appreciated the lengthy time on the sidelines.

2:35

A listed 6f contest sets us up for the Lincoln and there are some real standouts in this one. Juddmonte contender Bated Breath (Dansili) steps up to the plate with Steve Drowne up for this one and the lightly-raced four year-old was hitting at 107 when his season ended last August. It’s been a lengthy freshening for him and conditioner Roger Charlton will have him looking sharp and he should be able to go six panels with ease despite the lay-off. Hitchens (Acclamation) has already been out twice this year, not really impressing in either race when sent off as the betting favourite each time. We’ll probably look elsewhere here though he might be able to dictate things a bit more with a prominent, front-running trip. The selection appears to be Iver Bridge Lad (Avonbridge) who raced five times at Meydan this year, finishing a credible second to JJ The Jet Plane (Jet Master) in the Dubai Duty Free Handicap. On his return to English soil, he scored over conditions company to score against a field of five. He is essentially in mid-season right now while a lot of the others are just getting started – that might have a lot to do with how this race shapes up.

3:40

Since I absolutely refuse to back a horse named Tyre Giant Dot Com (Misu Bond) I’m going to be getting a bit creative in this 5f contest for two year-olds. This is probably the most wide open race of the day, but a pair of fillies could be the stand-outs and they even get a few pounds on the unproven field. Last time out, Redair (Redback) came in at Kempton over Bubbly Ballerina (Footstepsinthesand) and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same thing happen here. He’s So Cool (One Cool Cat) will be looking to improve and he was a beaten favourite last time out – he’s worth a look at a double-digit price.