Racing League Tips: 25/1 Chance Worth A Play At Lingfield

Round 5 of the Racing League gets underway at Lingfield races at 17:10, and Joe Tuffin has picked out two fancies to side with…

17:40 - Akkeringa

The second race of the day looks a competitive affair with Natural Path currently sitting at the top of the market at around 7/2 and Marks Bear not much further behind at 4/1, but it wouldn’t surprise me if AKKERINGA becomes the favourite before the off as the gelding looks to be a really interesting pick in the 17:40.

Stuart Williams’ runner is making his second Racing League appearance after a third at Doncaster in Round 2 in what was a really promising race and a brilliant return to form after a disappointing prior to that. Fairly consistent at three (Form reads 35231103), his less-than-a-length third showed the two wins in June were no fluke and another big run is surely expected, especially given that Marks Bear, the horse that beat him by only a neck at Doncaster, is a couple of lbs heavier this time round. 

The favourite Natural Path looks in good nick to go one better than for his second at Windsor last time out, but is yet to win since taking his first three races over in France in 2019/2020 so it may be worth opposing with the more proven, consistent and bigger-priced rival.

18:40 - Lethal Lunch  

The second bet I’ll be having at Lingfield tonight is a bit of a wild one in that he’s the rank outsider of the 11 runners, but I can't for the life of me work out why. Currently 25/1 at the time of writing, LETHAL LUNCH may be worth an each-way play in the 18:40 with the top-weight horse sitting on quite an appealing mark. Back below a rating of 90 for the first time since the 18th of September 2018, 3 years and 18 starts ago, the Michael Bell trained runner has slipped down from a career high of 98 to 88 after a few disappointing runs lately, but it’s not as if he hasn’t showed the form this year to prove he isn’t up to taking this and has registered a few smart performances. A winner in January off 92, he’s been targeted at some pretty tough races this year, including at All-Weather Champions Day and in Class 2 5f sprints against the likes of Arecibo and Blue De Vega, with only the last two being completely underwhelming. It’s a tough ask to re-find that form of a few starts ago, but the handicapper has given him a pretty good chance and he’s got to be worth a few quid each-way at a big price to at least pick up a place.

Favourite Hong Kong Harry looks quite exciting after winning four of his five career races to date, but he’s up in class as well as up 6lb and is far from bulletproof, with the Charlie Fellows trained Billhilly looking the most likely challenger after only a 4 lb raise after a fairly nice win in Round 3 here on the All-Weather.