BEST of the BETS

Fanning ended the day with 2 (11/4 & 3/1) wins out of 3, so the angle was right but it wasn't to be for me.

Bet #63 - 4:00 Southwell - Big Bear Hug, e/w @ 7/1 (most bookies paying 4 places, 1/5 odds)

Big Bear Hug finally got her first win at 14th attempt when winning a 5-runner handicap at Leicester (soft) last time. It was only a class 6 and the runner up who was favourite had record of 1 from 36 so nothing to get carried away with but she won easily enough and front two were well clear, 2nd has run creditably since then. So rise of 2 lbs seems fair enough.

She started handicaps on a mark of 73 at Haydock last season, she was well beaten in finishing 12th of 13 in the race won by Aussie Banker who is now rated 88. Her opening mark was probably a bit too high, current mark of 64 looks about right, but it's worth noting that 2 of her 3 qualifying runs were on the all weather so opening mark was largely based on all weather form. She has been exclusively kept to turf since then, which makes this return to all weather interesting imo. Two of her half-sisters, Unveiling & Midnite Bride (OR 74) won on AW.

She is one of just two rides today for in-form jockey Thore Hammer Hansen, who is 7 from 14 (+18.38 LSP) since start of the month, make that 7 from 10 on those priced 12/1 or shorter. His other ride is a 16/1 chance currently, so this one appears his best chance of a winner today. He is 1 from 15 for the stable, almost all of them have been big prices including the winner (25/1).