Ascot each-way racing tip (1350): El Barra lines up to defy outsider odds

13:50 Ascot: Howden Handicap Chase (2 miles 2 furlongs 175 yards)  

If we’re to believe everything the bookies tell us, then we should be in for a two-horse race between the two market leaders, Triple Trade and Cap Du Mathan, who are vying for the favourite tag at around the 11/4 mark.

Planet Sport Bet: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if Cap Du Mathan wins by more than 3 lengths, get a £5 Free Bet

Joe Tizzard’s Triple Trade boasts figures of 2211213 on his last seven completions and must be taken seriously under Brendan Powell, while the Paul Nicholls-trained Cap Du Mathan is ridden by Harry Cobden, who gives a realistic appraisal of his ride’s chances in his regular Planet Sport Bet blog: 

“The only thing is I’m not sure how much weight [Cap Du Mathan] will have in hand with the handicapper. He’s probably not that well-handicapped anymore having done so well last year, mainly because never really runs a bad race.

He doesn’t give himself a chance to get a couple of pounds off his back, but he’s a good horse and more than entitled to run into a place.”

READ MORE: Harry Cobden’s Planet Sport Bet blog previews all of his Ascot rides

However, if it’s a big-priced placed finish that you’re looking for, then Richard Hutchinson, who runs his Read Between The Lines service on Tipstrr, believes the line-up’s outsider is capable of outracing his tasty odds.

With Ascot’s good ground running unseasonably quick, top-of-the-ground lover, El Barra, becomes an interesting proposition.

He was decent when under Willie Mullins’s wing and progressed to win a £50k two-mile-five-furlong handicap at the 2022 Punchestown Festival off a mark of 140. He then went on to come a close third in the uber-competitive £136k Galway Plate off 150, with both of those runs coming on quick ground.

He fell on two of his four subsequent starts, and when completing was slightly disappointing, but these were on unsuitable soft/heavy going.

The Riccis sold El Barra two months ago and the nine-year-old is now trained by Conor Dwyer who has given him a comeback ride (after 300 days off) over hurdles, again on soft ground, which looked like a prep run for the season.

It seems significant that connections have chosen to come over from Ireland searching for decent ground and it seems unlikely they would bother making the trip over if El Barra was regressing and/or just out for a run.

El Barra goes back over fences here and is well suited by a right-handed track, and the distance is well within his compass.

The trainer’s son Charlie O'Dwyer takes the ride and takes off a handy five pounds, so El Barra looks on a workable net mark of 143.

The seven-runner field would normally reduce the each-way options, but with three places available in places, El Barra’s 20/1 price becomes much more attractive and worthy of a cautious play.

 

• Suggested bet: El Barra each-way in the 13:50 at Ascot

 

• Tip and preview provided by Richard Hutchinson who provides racing tips as Read Between The Lines on Tipstrr

 

READ MORE: Saturday ITV racing tips: Best bets for Ascot and Haydock on December 23