Today's Racing Tips: Mark Milligan's Thursday bets include 7/2 fancy at Thurles

Mark's Bet of the Day: Hereford, 14:15 - Back Oneinthewell @ 11/82.38

1

Oneinthewell (Ire)

• J: Jonathan Burke
• T: James Owen
• F: 733-22143

• SBK 1/1
• EXC 2.08

With an excellent three-day Cheltenham meeting just around the corner, Thursday's racing has a decidedly low-key feel to it, but that doesn't mean to say that there aren't a couple of decent betting opportunities and I've managed to pick out a pair that I'm interested in.

The first - and the day's best bet - is James Owen's Oneinthewell in this staying handicap hurdle at Hereford.

As I've pointed out numerous times in this column previously, Owen is a master at improving horses from other stables and this five-year-old hasn't finished out of the first four in his last seven starts for the yard having taken just a bit of time to get up to speed when coming from Ireland.

The selection's most recent outing was a good third-place finish in a 15-runner novice handicap at Worcester that had plenty of depth to it compared to the race that he contests here. Indeed, it's already thrown up three subsequent winners and several others from it have gone on to run well in defeat.

This class 4 handicap represents a sharp drop in grade and Oneinthewell seems sure to give a good account of himself.

Notable winners from Mark in recent weeks

Benacre @ 11/2
Pole Star @ 5/1
Alfred Wincham @ 4/1
Corner Forward @ 7/2
Colombier @ 7/2
That's Random @ 9/4
Port Station @ 7/4

Thurles, 14:38 - Back Fratas @ 7/24.50

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Fratas (Ire)

• J: J. J. Slevin
• T: Joseph Patrick O'Brien, Ireland
• F: 02/20-2

• SBK 7/2
• EXC 4.5

The six-year-old mare Fratas hasn't been with the Joseph O'Brien yard for too long and there was plenty to like about her sole hurdles start for the yard where she finished second in a stronger race than this one at Galway in July.

The selection had her first run for the O'Brien yard in a one-mile flat handicap prior to that, a trip that is wholly inadequate for her, but it served as the perfect prep for that Galway run, where she was heavily backed and found only one too good.

Fratas has had several flat runs in preparation for her return to hurdling since then, the latest of them when shaping as if back in top form when finishing third at Naas last month.

She'd had a 41-day break prior to that outing and that should have set her up perfectly for a return to timber, while stretching out to 2m 4f in this sphere for the first time seems sure to suit a mare whose forte appears to be stamina.

Fratas has gone a while without a win but this race looks to afford her a perfect opportunity of putting that right for her top stable.

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