Friday horse racing tips: best bets at Uttoxeter, Wetherby and Newmarket by Tom Lunn

talkSPORT brings you free horse racing tips and free bets on Friday’s matches at Uttoxeter, Wetherby and Newmarket.

Tom Lunn walks you through the cards, form, moves, and more to help you navigate your way horse racing bets choice.

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Friday racing tips

• WEATHERBY
  1.15: West Balboa 4/5 (2 points)
  2.25: Liam Swagger 6/4 (1pt)
  3.00: Meadow wolf 7/2 (1pt)
• NEW MARKET
  1.43: Magic Mild 7/2 (1pt) The queen of running 14/1 each way (1 pt)
• UTTOXETER
  12.20: Lookaway (1pt)
  2.35: Kay Tara Tara (1pt)

West Balboa

This mare has a strong chance of winning after only being able to finish fourth last time.

4/5 may be a chance and not attractive to many, but the fact that she is much higher rated than Farnoge and gets a mare bonus on top of that means you can probably afford to go 2 on a mare

The Skeltons are in top form and West Balboa should do better in his second start of the chase, especially early in the trip.

That’s probably what they were aiming for as well, rather than sending her over 3 meters first time over the fences.

Farnoge is 10/3, but he also gets that off the wind operation and needs to go well over fences for the first time.

Liam Swagger

Liam Swagger is clear favorite here after winning easily on debut over hurdles ahead of some much more experienced young horses.

Torrent was second, not too far off him in that race, and came here 3lb lighter than his rival, having given up as much as 8lb at Market Rasen, for a change in weight of 12lb.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him backed from a huge price of 16/1 as he appeals each way for that reason alone, but with only seven runners there is a good chance one or two more could run to form second place.

Especially since the couple encounters a large number of undiscovered and improving species, including Denzil by Skelton, who won by a mile in three races on his debut.

but Liam Swagger won so well on debut that the weight difference probably won’t be an issue, with Sam Twiston-Davies on board they also need to get the tactics right to take it home well.

Meadow wolf

Next up is the bet365 Grade 1 Handicap Chase over 2m3f at Wetherby.

With only five highly rated runners, it is wide open for betting, making it prime betting.

All five are priced within a few points of each other from 10/3 to 11/2.

Midnight River is the heaviest and highest ranked to date, although at 153 he is 11lbs heavier than the next Heltenham.

Giving about 2 stones to Genua, which not only has the lowest weight, but also the highest price.

Gallop de Chass could be well weighted given his win in the last time out, but he hasn’t been seen in nearly a year since being absent since that first win of the season.

Midnight River is also a trip away from that lofty mark, also after nearly a year out, so ideal bets would be Heltenham, who have Ciaran Gathings on board rather than Harry Skelton, or Meadow wolf which ended a couple of weeks ago, which could prepare him well for this.

He ran over hurdles and over 2m, which is more of a warm-up for a horse that probably needed a run.

Even so, he was in fine form, trailing Peter’s outlaw at Ayr in the final run last season when Heltenham dropped four.

This was despite being picked up 7lb for the win, well ahead of Hero at Haydock.

He has been better and can continue to find more for coaches Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith.

Magic Mild & Running Queen

Nardra is the heavy favorite for this contest after her huge debut victory, beating the rest of the field by more than eight lengths at Haydock.

However, this kind of race can be misleading because she is so undiscovered that there is no guarantee she will make it to this level, making it hard to back at 6/4.

I’d be looking at higher prices for this one, hoping they can beat the odds and check a favorite that could very well be something special.

The queen of running has been in good form over 5f so far, beating Betty Clover in May on soft ground, but has changed her form on good ground next time at York.

She would suit a rise in the trip to 6f and should not be dropped again in registered company.

Magic Mild is in great form and should be in this contest after beating Adoon Valley in July and then beating It Ain’t Two at Newmarket in August.

She followed that up with a solid performance behind Tabitha at Salisbury in a Group 3 in September.

She finished well ahead of Betty Clover in that race and has the consistency to show she should win that race or at least come close.

Lookaway

The matchup is usually a no-brainer, but this matchup between Lookaway and Personal Ambition has a lot of potential for a great race.

They both have great form over hurdles but will be making their Chase debuts against each other with huge chances of getting off the mark the first time they are asked over fences.

Lookaway was rated higher and in his best form in a higher-rated race, coming close to Iberico Lord in a Grade 3 in November, before stepping up in trip and finishing second to Captain Teague in the Challow in December.

The Ask gelding then finished third to Mystical Power at Aintree in April, still in solid form, ahead of Mistergif, Lump Sum and also Personal Ambition.

Personal ambition must have had few excuses in this race as he finished so far back.

He ran incredibly well when winning at Kelso, Doncaster and Warwick, beating Django Baye in Grade 2 company, and beating Inoue Machin by more than eight lengths at Doncaster, and the horse has run well since then.

He disappointed once when he stepped up to 2m4f when not quite jumping well, which could make Lookaway a much better option for a chase debut.

I have tipped both of these horses several times and both have promising seasons ahead of them.

Kay Tara Tara

She ran very well to finish second at El Elefante in March, which obviously worked well as she scored 130 over fences and 124 over hurdles.

They were equal in weight and Kei Tara Tara was still close to the favourite.

She was expected to run better next time, but she moved up in the first grade over hurdles before finishing far back again.

It’s clear there’s something wrong with her and she went in for wind surgery in September so now if she corrects whatever is wrong she could be a very good weight, 3lbs less than when she came second after El Elephante.

Tom Lunn’s Profit/Loss

• October 24: +21.57
• From May ’24: +155.99 points
• From July 23: +368.55 points

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All odds are valid at time of writing

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