Halifax Handicap Betting Tips

The first day of the Chester May Meeting was most forgettable for yours truly following a disappointing display from Galient, my selection in the Chester Cup won eventually by Greenwich Meantime. However, I'm an eternal optimist and believe that Thursday will be far better, as Cool Box rates a cracking bet to my mind in the fourth race on the card at the Roodee, the Halifax Handicap at 3.20. Amanda Perrett has her string in flying form at present and the selection, a 6/1 chance with Ladbrokes, should be cherry ripe for this task following a highly encouraging reappearance effort at Newbury 20 days ago. In that race, the three-year-old caught the eye when staying on to finish seventh behind Phoenix Tower in a race that is working out pretty well. Indeed, the winner looks Group class, while the fourth that day, Aqmaar, landed a decent contest at Newmarket's Guineas meeting. Perrett's horses invariably come on a good deal for their seasonal bows and there's every reason to suspect that this will be the case with Cool Box, who ceratinly appears to be going the right way. A strong pace looks likely and, providing he gets the breaks, Cool Box can arrive late on the scene to score. Barry Hills has a great record at this meeting and his charge, Thabaat, rates a lively threat, especially with the recent rain easing the underfoot conditions. Both he and Mark Johnston's Annemasse are likely to cut out the running, but they could be sitting ducks for Cool Box in the home straight. Salient has to be respected, albeit his limitations have already been exposed. Conversely, Gulf Express is lightly racedt, but Sir Michael Stoute's colt needed every yard of the one-mile, half-a-furlong trip at Wolverhampton last time and I'm not convinced he'll have the pace to cope with this shorter distance on such a tight track, plus he's got the outside draw to overcome. Verdict - 1pt Cool Box @ 6/1 (Ladbrokes)