Horse Racing Betting – Tartak To Plunder Blue Square Cash

The frost may have deprived us of one major national hunt betting heat at Doncaster last week but the weather forecast for Town Moor looks more favourable for this weekend and I fancy the talented Tartak to go very close in the Blue Square Handicap Chase. Traditionally, this is a race in which the up-and-coming classy chasers excel. No horse carrying less than 11st has triumphed since 2003, while you would have to go back another year to find a winner aged nine or older. Take into account those stats and what, on paper, looks a very tricky puzzle to solve suddenly becomes less complex. I’ve a lot of respect for top weight Kalahari King (available at 10-1) but trainer Ferdy Murphy has already stated that his season-long target is the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in March, for which he is also a general 10-1 chance, so this run might be needed after a 287-day break. Not surprisingly, Paul Nicholls‘ two runners are well to the fore in the betting with stable jockey Ruby Walsh preferring the consistent Free World (5-1 in most places), who has been placed in his last six starts, ahead of last year’s winner I’msingingtheblues. The latter, available at a general 8-1, is 7lbs higher in the weights this time around. But if you’re looking for value (and who isn’t), how about Tartak? The seven-year-old can be backed at 12-1 with totesport, betfred, victor chandler, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and William Hill, who seem to have priced up Tom George‘s gelding on the basis that he’s never won over a trip this short before. His stamina, however, is what attracts him to me in this contest. He’s been pitched in against top-class opposition so far this term and was far from disgraced when 5th in the Arkle Chase last season over 2m when finishing ahead of I’msingingtheblues (4lbs worse off). The weights today also give him every chance of reversing that form with runner-up Kalahari King and, with a plethora of front-runners to ensure a strong gallop, Tartak should also have the race run to suit. You only have to go back to Aintree last year, when Tartak beat Deep Purple, Planet Of Sound and Calgary Bay, to realise that he shouldn’t be anywhere near his current price!