Nottingham free racing tips: Veteran under-rated and overpriced in conditions set to suit

15:08 Nottingham: Advertise Your Business at Nottingham Racecourse Handicap (5 furlongs)

This is advertised as a 0-95 Class 3 handicap, but it has attracted a field of older sprinters rated up to just 86, so it is essentially just a Class 4 handicap, which should work in the favour of Hyperfocus.

During a long sequence of Class 2 and Class 3 handicaps since the summer of 2022, there was just a short time during this summer that this Tim Easterby gelding was able to run in two successive Class 4 handicaps. 

He duly won them both with his preferred cut in the ground, and he is now back down to the most recent of those winning marks, so this is another good opportunity for him.

Now ten years old, his career record when contesting Class 4 handicaps on turf is 122111 and his two defeats were by a short-head and half a length.

Best Bet: Hyperfocus each-way in the 15:08 at Nottingham

Most of his wins have been over 6f but he won a Class 2 handicap over 5f on soft ground at Ripon (a sharper track than this) just last season and only last month he ran within a neck of winning a Class 3 over the minimum trip at Chester.

He often comes good late in the season and his top three performances have come in October (twice) and September, and with so much going for him the veteran looks a good bet to go well again.

Of the others, Fantasy Master should be in the mix, given that he is a three-time winner at this venue and all his career wins have come on straight, flat, galloping tracks.

His most recent visit to his favourite track came just two weeks ago when he ran third of nine over this trip in heavy ground in a much stronger event won by the 91-rated Woolhampton, who is now rated 96 (10lbs above this level).

Fantasy Master missed second place by just a head to today’s rival Blind Beggar, but after riding claims he is 3lbs better off with that rival today, so he can reverse that narrow margin, and this course specialist has recorded four of his five career wins late in the season, so this is his time of year.

Next Best Bet: Fantasy Master each-way in the 15:08 at Nottingham

• Preview and tips provided Steve Jones, who runs CD Systems Daily Bargain on Tipstrr