UK Horse Racing Tips

Manton based trainer George Baker has narrowly missed out on a few big prizes this term and is hoping that his decent performer Boomshackerlacker can finally find the lucky breaks going his way when he bids for the cavalry charge that is the Cambridgeshire Handicap at Newmarket on September 27, writes Elliot Slater.

Last term Baker sent out Belgian Bill to land the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot at odds of 33/1, and his Boomshackerlacker is offered at a similar price at http://www.bet365.com/news/en/betting to land the nine furlong Cambridgeshire Handicap, a contest that is always one of the most hotly contested handicap events of the year. Hopes are high amongst the Baker team that their four-year-old will give a very good account of himself given a decent draw, luck in running, and essentially, a little bit of juice in the ground.

The son of Dark Angel likes nothing better than to get his toe in, and a glance at his career performances so far clearly indicates that when it is easy ground or, even better, when the mud is flying, Boomshakerlacker invariably runs very well indeed. That was certainly the case last time he encountered such conditions when sent across the English Channel to Vichy to contest the listed Prix Jacques de Bremond. With star jockey Mickael Barzalona booked to ride, the 73/10 shot came with a storming late run but was carried right by the eventual winner, going down by just a half-a-length.

Last season, when racing on heavy ground at Chantilly in the listed Prix Tantiemme, the Manton-based colt again ran a cracker to be second of 13 runners behind Combat Zone. Some rain is forecast at Newmarket in the mid-week prior to the big event, but connections would certainly be happy to see a more unsettled forecast; a thunderstorm or two would be a dream come true!

Ignore his disappointing effort when parked out wide throughout the ultra-competitive Betfred Mile at Glorious Goodwood in August, Boomshackerlacker’s overall form suggests he could go very close at HQ and the handicapper has also given him some leeway in setting him a mark of 101, 7lbs lower than at this time last year, despite the colt having some run some very good races in the interim. A winner of two of his 18 starts, including a listed contest in France as a juvenile, and also placed in the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Lafitte and the Group 3 Worthington Whizz Kid Stakes at Newbury, the grey ran 5th in last year’s German 2000 Guineas and definitely has a touch of class about him.

Current odds of 33/1 will surely dry up if the heavens open, raining on the parade of many of his expected rivals but doing the Baker representative no harm whatsoever. And with his handler’s string having emerged in fine form throughout August and September after a fairly quiet spell during the mid-summer run, there are far worse each-way chances to invest in come the big day.

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