Horse Racing Tips: Leader Looks To Level Up

It is a fairly low key day of racing this Thursday to kick off February, with just three tracks hosting racing in Britain and nothing in Ireland. Racing fans may be looking ahead to the huge slate of action at the DRF on both Saturday and Sunday, but there are still some eye-catching runners today. Here we bring you the most selected Naps, the choice of the most profitable tipsters, an intriguing stat to monitor and of course, all the biggest stories in racing,,,

Today's Most Popular Naps

One horse has garnered four Naps votes, but is priced prohibitively short for most bettors. FIRE FLYER in the 15:15 at Wincanton is the representative of Nicholls and Cobden and is just 2/9 at the time of writing. The horse looks levels above his rivals here on all known form and - while they'd never admit it - connections will be disappointed if the horse does not win by a good margin. Perhaps he will appeal to those who like to bet on winning distances, but he won't help out much in the Naps table standings.

Two horses have three Naps votes and thankfully both are more of a punter's price  one being in the following race after Fire Flyer at Wincanton the 15:45. The horse is once again running for Paul Nicholls with Harry Cobden in the plate, TAKE YOUR TIME. He has looked a brute of a chaser and is two from two so far, with his last win coming some fifty days ago here in a bloodless success. He has been whacked with eight more pounds but looking at the scope of this horse, it may not be enough to stop him. The other horse with three votes as the Nap of the day is a Tom Lacey representative and although he has a penalty to deal with, TUNE IN A BOX looks the one to beat. He is on a hat-trick after wins at both Newcastle and Wetherby so if seven pound claimer Cameron Iles can continue to get a tune out of him he should go close.

Follow The Leaders

Perhaps most eyes will be on Wincanton and Ffos Las for the jumps fans today, but Spotlight at the Racing Post have gone with a best bet from Chelmsford. The horse is LEVEL UP for David Evans and with Rossa Ryan in the plate, and is attractively priced at the time of writing at around the 4/1 mark with BetMGM. The horse won well at Lingfield last time out over five furlongs and is clearly in good heart, so has every chance albeit this is a competitive race.

West Country are one of the four experts that have sided with current 2/9 shot FIRE FLYER in the 15:15 at Wincanton. Sitting second and over £10 behind the Naps leader Spotlight, even if this well fancied Ditcheat horse wins it will make only a tiny difference on the Naps leaderboard. Finally, The Punt are siding with an evens favourite (at the time of writing) at Ffos Las in the 14:00, SPICED RUM. Switching to handicaps after a few good hurdling efforts - one in particular behind the monster Sir Gino - means he is one of the strongest market movers today and his mark looks very fair to record a first win over hurdles.

1. Spotlight - Level Up - 19:30 Chelmsford - P&L: £21.80
2. West Country - Fire Flyer - 15:15 Wincanton - P&L: £8.09
3. The Punt - Spiced Rum - 14:00 Ffos Las - P&L: £5.87

Stats The Way We Like It

At Wincanton today most eyes will be on the combination of Nicholls and Cobden as they look to have an outstanding book of rides together. However, in our top trainer / jockey course combinations grid there is a team with a better hit rate at Wincanton: Anthony Honeyball and Sam Twiston-Davies. The pair combine for just one runner today in the 14:00 contest, BABY SHALLY  who is an attractive price...