Talking Horses: best bets for Monday’s racing plus our competition

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/13/talking-horses-racing-blog-best-bets

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Today’s best bets, by Greg Wood

Salisbury abandoned its final meeting of the year before a scheduled inspection at 7.15am this morning after 12mm of rain overnight but Windsor has survived – so far – despite receiving 19mm since Sunday evening. The ground is now heavy, however, and with more rain forecast during the day, officials are reported to be “monitoring” the weather.

There are a number of non-runners at the riverside track already because of the change in the going but Half A Billion (4.10) is worth an interest in the sprint handicap, despite shouldering top weight. There is only 5lb between the top and bottom of the field and he ran well after a break on heavy ground at Thirsk in early August.

Gleese The Devil (5.40) and Cornish Path (4.40) should go close at the same venue, while at Sedgefield, Solway Dornal (3.10) and Langley House (3.45) both have a solid chance off decent marks.

Tipping competition – a new week

Congratulations to 15244, who held on to win last week’s competition on a final score of +13.83, having picked Uncle Jimmy (2-1) on Friday. Chris1623 finished fast but too late on +12.75, thanks to Homage (7-1).

This week’s prize is a copy of Timeform’s Chasers & Hurdlers 2013/14, the treasured annual from the long-established ratings firm, retailing at £75 and running to more than 1,000 pages. Each horse that ran last season is described and rated, while there are extended essays on 80 or so of the bigger names, in which Timeform’s writers reflect on the talking points thrown up by the last 12 months. If you don’t win this excellent prize, you can buy it here.

To kick things off, we’d like your selections, please, for these races: 3.45 Sedgefield, 4.50 Sedgefield, 5.10 Windsor.

As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers.

In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day.

For terms and conditions click here.

Good luck!

Click here for all the day’s racecards, form, stats and results.

And post your tips or racing-related comments below.