Timeform Radio Tip / Jeremy Grayson / 05 September 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet View Market

Lazy Sunday afternoon? Not so for Jeremy Grayson as he selects a trio of intriguing bets...

Getting too heavily involved in juvenile hurdle newcomers at what is still an early stage of the season wouldn't be everyone's chosen route to fun and profit, but Dr Finley's debut in the opening 3yo contest at Fontwell this afternoon (13:40) certainly piqued my interest.

The extended 2m2f trip at Fontwell is the furthest that any juvenile hurdle in the country is run over, and the deceptively testing uphill finish at the end of an otherwise sharp circuit should further play into the hands of the Dr Fong gelding, who has proven competitive in Flat handicaps at up to 1m6f lately.

Further, his trainer Jeff Pearce doesn't handle huge numbers of hurdlers, but of seven winners from his limited ammunition since the start of the 2006-7 campaign, six have been juvenile winners. In short, if Dr Finley is going to win a jumps race for Pearce, it's going to be one of these.

None of this would matter if odds-on favourite Architrave was impossible to oppose, but the ease of his Stratford victory masked over the fact he crashed through the last three flights when under no pressure, and there look to be one or two more rivals for the early lead in today's bigger field.

Over at York, Sunnyside Tom will have his fans ahead of a bid to complete the nap hand in claimers. The 15:10 race at the Knavesmire this afternoon has comfortably more depth to it than any of the other contests he's collected in recently, though, and the extended 1m2f trip asks a real question of him - he's winless beyond 1m1f, and that in a pretty gently run affair.

Jo'burg is preferred over what is irrefutably his correct distance. Career wins around Sandown (twice this year), Newbury and Newmarket all point to a preference for a galloping 1m2f; and whilst holding his form well most recently off a mark which has always been just beyond him in handicaps, this return to claiming company looks the best ploy to get him resuming winning ways. Only the more unpredictable Charlie Cool is better in at the weights today.

Tags: horseracing betting, Timeform radio racing tip