Chepstow best bet: Mavis Pike can land a blow oh hurdle debut

15:55 Chepstow: Concerts in July Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (2 miles)  

With six of the 13 starters available at 50/1 or more, it would be a brave (albeit potentially lucrative) move to plump for an outsider when there is plenty of more realistic value to be found in the top half of the betting.

Early market leader Followango looks like she will take all the beating if able to build on a promising start that saw her land a two-mile bumper at Ffos Las on debut in November, before finishing third of 13 over this course and distance last month, despite not being pushed too hard by returning jockey Isabel Williams.

Planet Sport Bet Daily Special: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if Followango wins by more than 4 lengths, get a £5 Free Bet

Her biggest challenge looks likely to come from the more exposed Chosen Hero, whose seven outings include a bumper win at Wetherby this time last year and a successful introduction to hurdles when making the frame in each of her first two efforts over obstacles in November.

Blue Moon Serenade also made a promising transition to hurdles when third of 13 at Lingfield last time out seven weeks ago, but a more intriguing prospect is Nigel Twiston-Davies’ five-year-old Mavis Pike.

Suggested best bet: Mavis Pike each-way in the 15:55 at Chepstow

Away from the track for 11 months since three bumper outings last winter, she had made steady progress that culminated in coming second of seven at Newcastle last February, although she was subsequently stripped of that runner-up spot due to her jockey contravening the newly-implemented whip laws.

After such a break she might seem something of a shot in the dark on her hurdling debut, but the fact that the trainer’s son Sam Twiston-Davies is entrusted with piloting her first effort over obstacles suggests that connections want to give her every chance to hit the ground running.

The father and son teamed up to land a 4/1 winner and a 9/2 runner-up at Hereford on Monday, so the signs are good that Mavis Pike will turn up in good shape here, and given that the three market leaders offer little value at 7/2 or less, she could well put herself in the mix to return some each-way profit here.

• Tip advised by Each Way Target Tips on Tipstrr

 

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