There was a time, not long ago, when betting shop staff and many associated with the betting and horse race industries could count on three days off in the year. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day remain sacrosanct in the UK, for the time being at least, but Good Friday was just too much of an opportunity for bookmakers to resist for long. They won their battle with the Christian faith and now Finals Day of the All-Weather Championships has become a permanent fixture.
Staged at Lingfield, the spiritual home of all-weather racing in England, there are six championship races worth in excess of £1 million. The six races have attracted 62 top-class entries, including runners from Ireland and France, and 14 line up for the apprentice handicap which gets everything under way.
The best is saved to last, however, with the Betway Easter Classic All-Weather Middle Distance Championship, worth £124,5000 to the winner, ending proceedings.
Run over 1m2f, this year’s feature surprisingly includes only one who contested the race 12 months ago. Battalion finished sixth but it’s difficult to envisage Jamie Osborne’s eight-year-old faring any better this time and bookmakers agree with 10Bet pricing him up at 33/1.
Betway Easter Classic All-Weather Middle Distance Championship Best Odds
Master The World 7/2, Victory Bond and Mr Owen 4/1, Utmost 13/2, Star Archer 9/1, Abe Lincoln and Petite Jack 14/1, Battle Of Marathon and Pactolus 20/1, Battalion 33/1
The form of several leading contenders is closely intertwined. Master The World beat Utmost, Petite Jack and Battalion in the Listed Churchill Stakes over the course and distance back in November. Utmost then beat Victory Bond, Battle Of Marathon and Petite Jack in the Winter Derby Trial last month. Master The World was beaten narrowly by MR OWEN in the Winter Derby itself but awarded the race in the stewards’ room after the first-past-the-post veered under pressure in the closing stages and caused interference.
Now that he’s proved he stays 1m2f, David Simcock’s six-year-old can finally come of age and land the big prize and has to be the value at 4/1 with 10Bet given he’s old rival, who isn’t as well drawn, is half a point shorter.
The Betway All-Weather Marathon Championships Conditions Stakes is, as you would expect by its name, the longest race on the card. It features smart stayers like Mark Johnston’s grey Watersmeet, who is seeking a four-timer, and Ralph Beckett’s mare Mountain Bell while Maxime Guyon has travelled over to ride French raider Funny Kid. But it might be worth siding with the classy RED VERDON, who steps up from a 1m4f but would not be running in this if Ed Dunlop didn’t believe he’d stay – the 10/3 with 10Bet is too big to resist.
