Horse Racing Betting: Donn McClean’s Horses To Follow

Before we dive in, some basic rules for a horses to follow list is to keep them in a tracker and on your radar for the next three runs.

Consider ideal conditions across variables like venue, ground, opposition and ensure prices on betting sites are satisfactory to you as a punter. 

This column should help you build up a list that proves profitable under those circumstances.

It should also provide timely reminders to reduce repeated form study and assist with your enjoyment of a season, be it National Hunt or Flat racing.

Sit Down Lucy - Wexford, 7th July

Sit Down Lucy put up a good performance to finish third in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase at Wexford last Friday. 

Prominent from early along the inside, she travelled nicely to the end of the back straight final time for Sean Flanagan, and she picked up well around the home turn to challenge the leader Take All. 

She jumped the second last flight in a share of the lead and, while she couldn't get past Take All or Snugsborough Hall, she kept on well to finish a close-up third behind them, with the first three clear of their rivals.

This was a really encouraging run by Peter Fahey's mare. It was her first run since she finished well behind Kilcruit in the big EMS Copiers Novices' Handicap Chase at the Punchestown Festival in April, and it was probably her best performance since she won her beginners' chase at Galway last September. 

She is two for two at Galway, she won a handicap hurdle at the Festival last year too, and it would obviously not be surprising if her astute trainer has had Galway in mind for her for the last 12 months. 

She has only run in five chases, and there could be more to come from her over fences. Her trainer has his horses in really good form these days too.

Man Of Eden - Haydock, 8th July

Man Of Eden did well to get as close as he did, coming from well back to finish third in the seven-furlong handicap at Haydock last Saturday. 

Slowly away, it appeared that he lacked the tactical speed to gain a prominent early position before they reached the turn, which comes up quickly after the seven-furlong start, with the result that he was only ninth of the 10 runners leaving the back straight. 

Moved to the outside early in the home straight, he came under a ride just inside the three-furlong marker, but he found lots for pressure. He stayed on strongest of all down the outside to take third place, beaten a total of just over a length.

This was a race in which it was an advantage to be handy. The first two home raced in second and third places respectively from early, it wasn't easy to make ground from the rear, and Man Of Eden was faster through the final three furlongs than all his rivals. 

The Charltons' horse did run well over seven furlongs in a nursery at The Curragh last September, but, on this evidence, he should do better when he steps back up in trip. The handicapper left him on his mark of 83, and that is a mark off which he will be of interest again.

Back See Daa - Sandown, 8th July

Back See Daa is deserving of another chance after her run in the listed three-year-old fillies' race at Sandown last Saturday, a race in which she probably wasn't afforded the opportunity to show off her true ability. 

Keen early on behind a sedate pace, she was shuffled back to sixth place as they left the back straight, and she lost another two places in traffic early in the home straight. She couldn't get out when her rider Jason Watson wanted to take her to the outside, and she met traffic when she tried to chart a path among horses. 

She only finished sixth in the end, but she was only a total of two lengths behind the winner Mystic Pearl. 

Mystic Pearl did well to win, coming from the rear, because the sectional times tell you that this was a race in which it was an advantage to race handily. However, Back See Daa was in an improbable position early in the home straight, and she left the impression that she crossed the winning line with plenty of energy left.

An impressive winner of a novice stakes at Newbury on her previous run, Karl Burke's filly remains a filly with plenty of potential. This was just her fifth run, and she was solid in the market for this, her first run in listed company.

She should do better off a stronger pace over a mile and, a half-sister to Fulfilled, who won over a mile and a half last month, from the family of Carlton House, she could be worth a try over 10 furlongs in time.

Stanhope - Naas, 8th July

Stanhope is nine years old now, and he has run 65 times, but he is of interest on the evidence of the performance that he put up in finishing third in the six-furlong handicap at Naas last Saturday. 

Held up early on, in a race in which the pace held up well, it was admirable that he was able to keep on as well as he did to take third place. He finished three lengths behind the winner Livingstone Range, but it was a race in which it was difficult to make ground from the rear, as it often is at Naas. 

The winner and the runner-up, American In Paris, disputed the lead from early, racing on either side of the track. Also, the form of the race is working out well already, with eighth-placed Amanirenas winning at Fairyhouse on Wednesday, and seventh-placed Tammany Hall doing best of the low-drawn horses in a five-furlong handicap at Navan on Saturday.

Stanhope runs well at Naas, but his record says that he is even better at Navan. Three of John McConnell's horse's six wins have been at the Co Meath track, all three over five or five and a half furlongs, all three on good ground or softer. 

Stanhope will be of interest again now off his mark of 53, and he will be of particular interest on betting apps when he returns to Navan, ideally on easy ground.