Horse Racing Tips: Rely on Shaman to prove a Goodwood Champion

Thirsk, 14.40 - Back Blue Rc @ 9/25.50

All eyes will be on Newmarket and the first Classic of the season, but with a sizeable field of unexposed three-year-olds thundering up the Rowley Mile and the complexities of the draw to contend with, I'll leave finding the winner finding to those considerably smarter than me.

For what it's worth, Into The Sky may outrun his odds, with most onlookers already dismissing the Starman colt as a sprinter pure and simple.

Of course, that may well be the case, but his stride cadence and dosage index numbers suggest a mile is well within his remit and his trainer believes his star colt trains and works more like a miler so at 33/134.00 he could be worth a small play, especially with four places on offer.

A nine-race Newmarket card may feel slower than a weekend in jail, especially if the rains arrive in the afternoon and I preferred to look elsewhere for potential Saturday wagers with two in particular catching the eye at Thirsk.

The first of which runs in the Thirsk Hunt Cup where Blue Rc appears to have good claims of landing the feature handicap for trainer James Tate.

The Blue Point colt was arguably a little unlucky to bump into Newcastle course specialist Tyrrhenian Sea on all-weather finals day and returns to the scene of his impressive three-length triumph last summer.

He should relish the prospect of a strong gallop here with last year's winner Flight Plan and Accentuate in opposition and his turn of foot could be a potent force under Connor Beasley.

Thirsk, 16.25 - Back American Bay @ [S/P]

The second of the wagers at the north Yorkshire venue is American Bay who has twice previously visited today's track, winning gamely from Equity Law last June before suffering a head defeat at the hands of that rival three weeks later.

The old enemies again do battle here and there is unlikely to be much between them again, especially as Equity Law enjoyed a recent tee-up at Ripon behind Dream Composer.

In contrast, American Bay has been off the track since being beaten a short-head by Counsel at Wolverhampton, but the break (39 days) is virtually identical to the gap before his win here last summer and his stable may well be using Elegant Erin's participation to hold the weights down.

Tatterstall, in the next stall, could well give American Bay some pace to run at late and he ought to be on the scene once again under conditions which suit him well.

Goodwood, 17.05 - Back Shaman Champion each-way @ [S/P]

And finally, a fast seven furlongs downhill could prove to be optimum conditions for Shaman Champion at this stage of his career so this three-year-old handicap might see the selection add to his sole career win.

I was fortunate to be at Newbury when the Shaman colt made his seasonal reappearance and his physicality and good looks are probably what encouraged his new owners to shell out 160,000gns for him at the Autumn horses-in-training sale at Newmarket last October.

Hopefully, that will prove money well spent as Shaman Champion looked a picture at the Berkshire venue before acquitting himself with credit in a warm handicap of its type.

Clive Cox's colt looked as though the outing would do him the world of good that day and he handled the undulations of Goodwell extremely well last season when hitting the line strongly in a six-furlong nursery at the Glorious meeting.

This looks a good opportunity for him to record career win number two today.

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