BEST of the BETS

Bet #60 - 1:50 Haydock - Nomadic Empire, e/w @ 18/1 (4 places, 1/5 odds)

Late decision on this bet as I was thinking of leaving it but non runners have taken out at least one of the dangers so I have decided to take a chance. Nomadic Empire has not won in Britain (won in Bahrain during the winter) since September '21. But that win on 24th September is an important piece of form imo, it was a narrow win in class 2 off a mark of 99 at York (6f, good), 3 & 4 1/2 lengths behind him were Mr Wagyu & Music Society, my selection is 8 lbs & 6 lbs better off with them today, Mr Wagyu is 2/1 favourite today, based on that form my selection looks very good value.

That is not the only good piece of form, Nomadic was a smart 2yo, twice placing in Listed contests and also running well in Group 3. He continued to run well as a 3yo, winning twice, but that win at York put him above 100 and made life difficult in handicaps last year. He has followed the same path as last year, having his first two races at Ripon (same race) and Dante meeting at York, run at Ripon was disappointing as he had done better in the race previous year but soft going could have been a possible excuse. He was an outsider (18/1) at York and ran accordingly but it has earned him another 3 lbs drop. 3rd run of last season was also on this card, but in the Listed race where he finished only 5th of 9 but dropping to a handicap he faces an easier task today.

He dropped down to class 3 only once last year (York, 7th Oct) and he must have been thought to be on a good mark then (OR 92) as he was sent off 4/1 favourite, but he disappointed in finishing 14th of 15, but again the good to soft going could have been one of the reasons.
His record appears better on today's quicker going, 2 wins and 2 places from 8 runs on good to firm, with any soft in going description it is 0 from 10 though he has placed 6 times on it.

My main reason for backing him is that he looks really well handicapped, though he didn't win last year there were good placed efforts in Sprint Trophy and Portland handicaps. I think he should be capable of taking advantage of his low mark before long, hopefully today.