Horse Racing Tips: Mick Fitzgerald's ITV Racing bets on Sunday

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02 July 2023

Horse Racing Tips: Mick Fitzgerald's ITV Racing bets on Sunday

Mick Fitzgerald’s Horse Racing tips

13:50 Curragh – Unquestionable
14:05 Cartmel – Quoi De Neuf
14:25 Curragh – Commanche Falls
14:40 Cartmel – Fiveonefive
15:00 Curragh – Came From The Dark
15:12 Uttoxeter – Twig
15:40 Curragh – Auguste Rodin

Ryan Moore is on board this son of Wootton Bassett who won very nicely over course and distance in a maiden in May. He finished a good third over 5 furlongs on his soft ground debut, but there was a lot to like about the performance last time out and Unquestionable gets the vote over two handy horses that ran well at Royal Ascot but Have a quick turnaround.

Evan Williams has kept this horse in training and this is a valuable prize. Quoi De Neuf is smart on his day and I am hoping his win at Fakenham will have boosted his confidence. The only problem with Cartmel is it is always a bit of a bun fight in the early stages and, as long as this horse can survive the early scrimmages, I think he is a big price. Arctic Ambition was a comfortable winner over fences at Kilbeggan plus he won his last two over hurdles. He sets the standard and is a worthy favourite.

Michael Dods trains Commanche Falls and he can be awkward at the stalls as he has to go in last and is normally led in by Michael Dods’ wife. If they get it wrong it’s far from ideal. He goes in like a greyhound out of the trap and if he spends any length of time in there it works against him but he is getting better and some of his form is top drawer. The UK sprinters seem to have an edge as Art Power bolted up in May at this track and this lad is not far behind him.

Fiveonefive is lightly raced and has scope for improvement. He looked like he was always going to be better as a handicapper when running behind Joyeux Machin at Fairyhouse. He confirmed that theory with a nice win at Tipperary and went back to novice company at Perth where he bumped into a very smart Gordon Elliott trained contender.

Now trained by Evan Williams, that was Dr T J Eckleburg who I feel never fulfils his potential but on several occasions looked like he was going to be smart. I will be an interested observer of him.

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Ed Walker sends a this son of Dark Angel over for this. He has been given a chance by the handicapper after a poor run at Epsom last time but he was slow away in that contest and if you miss the break at that track you’re in trouble. Came From The Dark has run okay a couple of times this season, including a good run at Newmarket, and I think off a slightly lower mark has to be respected in this.

He is a bit of a character, this Twig. He mixes hurdles and fences and has been a real money spinner for connections. His young rider is growing with this horse’s confidence. He will arrive there to have every chance at the business end, but it will be a simple case of if he goes through with the effort. Cap Du Nord is handicapped to go very well in this as he is the best horse off mark, but it has been a long season for him and Christian Williams will do very well to maintain that level of form.

The majority of the field, seven to be precise, are trained by the O’Brien family. Five of those trained by Aiden and one each for his sons Donnacha and Joseph. Auguste Rodin was the talking horse going into the Derby and he didn’t disappoint finishing a half length in front of King Of Steel, who came out and won the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot comfortably.

Sprewell run a very good race at Epsom, getting a little unbalanced on the camber and surely has improvement from that contest. White Birch was another who didn’t have the smoothest of passages in the Derby. He was second in the Dante and I think he has a very strong chance of being placed in this contest, but it is very hard to look past the Epsom Derby winner.