OPEN WIDE – 3.35pm GOODWOOD
0.5 PTS EACH WAY BET ADVISED AT 33/1 AVAILABLE WITH BOYLESPORTS WHO ARE PAYING 6 PLACES
This Unibet Stewards’ Cup is a 28-runner Class 2 “Heritage Handicap”. Heritage handicaps are basically all the big name, traditional, top-class handicaps run throughout the year which have prize money in excess of £50,000. Other examples are, The Lincoln (which is usually run at Doncaster in late March or early April but unfortunately didn’t take place this year due to the Covid-19 outbreak) and The Ebor (which is due to be run at York on the 22nd of this month and in 2019 became the first UK horse racing handicap to have prize money of a staggering £1,000,000).
As most of you will know, I try to narrow these big fields down for you so study the form of every horse in the race before ending up with a shortlist which I think/hope the winner will come from. My shortlist for this is Nahaarr (9/2), Meraas (13/2), Watan (8/1), Swindler (12/), Kimifive (12/1), Atalanta’s Boy (20/1), Barbill (22/1), Wedding Date (33/1), and Open Wide (33/1). Not that short with 9 runners left but that’s much better than the 28 we started with!
Things look tight at the top of the market with it being very difficult to split Nahaarr, Meraas, and Watan. The William Haggas trained 4 year old colt Nahaarr looks classy having easily beat the re-opposing Watan by 2.25 lengths at Newbury over this trip 13 days ago. However, he had the advantage of being race-fit having already had two runs under his belt and is now 7lb worse off at the weights. Watan also ran a career best returning from a 378 day break, will strip fitter for the run, is a C&D winner, and has Ryan Moore booked so it’s easy to see how he could reverse the placings. Both have poor draws in stalls 19 & 16 while Mark Johnson’s fast improving 3 year old colt Meraas is receiving weight from them (2lb & 4lb) and is much better drawn in stall 4. The winner will most likely come from one of these three but it’s very difficult to call and there’s no value betting or trying to pick the winner from them at their respective slender prices. So, in these big field handicaps it’s much more sensible to look for a bit of each way value at much bigger prices particularly with bookies fighting for your custom by offering extra places. William Hill have the best each way offer I’ve found as they’re paying out if your horse finishes in the first seven in the race.
Swindler and Kimifive from the shortlist both have winning chances but don’t offer much value either at 12/1 so for me the selection had to come from the 4 left on the list priced 20/1 to 33/1. I thought all 4 (Open Wide, Atalanta’s Boy, Wedding Date, and Barbill in that order) had chances of finishing in the first 6 or 7 for various reasons but Open Wide was the standout for me and looks over-priced at 33/1. I say this because he went off at 14/1 in this last year before finishing a clear 2nd of 27 and he runs off a 3lb lower mark this time. He is back on his last winning mark, he should be nearing peak fitness on his fourth start of the season, he is suited by big fields, he is suited by the this downhill track, he likes a strong gallop/pace to aim at which he should get today, the drying conditions at the course are very much in his favour with the official Good to Firm ideal for him, and his draw in stall 12 is fine as Pat Dobbs will drop him in behind pace horses leaving the stalls before trying to come with a late run if and when the gaps open.
All things considered, he’s a good each way bet in this particularly with Boylesports who are the only bookmaker offering 33/1 while also paying the first 6 horses home. Bet Victor, Betfred, and Betway are also offering an industry best price of 33/1 but are only paying 5 places while William Hill are paying an excellent 7 places but are only offering odds of 25/1 on the selection. Good luck!
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