Handicapping.com's European Racing Report

Handicapping.com
European Racing Report

by Elliot Slater

Elliot Slater has worked as a professional broadcast journalist specialising in horse racing for over two decades.

A keen student of the form book and of handicapping, Slater has proved a regular success as a tipster. His first-hand knowledge of the intricacies of the on and off-course betting industry (for a number of years he was a respected SP returner) has proved another significant factor in his perception of the betting and racing industry as a whole.

A successful thoroughbred breeder, Slater's additional knowledge of pedigree and bloodlines offers yet another angle that will help keep you ahead of the game.

Dar Re Mi on song for 'King George' bid

July 24th is a date that has long been marked in the diary of every European racing fan as it sees the annual 'clash of the generations' when the season's best three-year-olds take on their older rivals in the prestigious King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Workforce
Picture Credit: racingpost.com

The mile-and-a-half Group 1 contest has been won by some of the greatest horses in history, and this year bookmakers have Epsom Derby winner Workforce as the 5/6 favourite to do the double.

Sir Michael Stoute's colt looked special when slamming the Derby field by seven lengths early last month and has been trained specifically for the Ascot feature, but I believe he represents poor value and could be undermined by rain-softened ground with the British summer weather taking a turn for the worse at present. Anyone who follows Group 1 racing tips will have to bear this in mind.

Harbinger Picture Credit: sportinglife.com	Royal Ascot winner Harbinger is second favourite at 5/2 and Irish derby hero Cape Blanco is offered at around 6/1. For me though it is the five-year-old mare Dar Re Mi who looks the value in the race, being proven on easy ground and having had a good pipe-opener when third at Sandown recently in the Coral Eclipse Stakes over an inadequate ten furlongs on her return to the fray after wining in Dubai during the winter. Another hint she is one of the best UK horse racing tips around at the moment.	Cape Blanco Picture Credit: sportinglife.com

Owned by composer Andrew Lloyd Weber and his wife, Dar Re Mi is a top class 12 furlong horse, tremendously gutsy and versatile, proven at Group 1 level on all ground. The horse looks to me to be outstanding each-way value at current odds of 12/1. Even if she only manages a place, the return will be better than backing Workforce at odds-on to win.

Before her recent run at Sandown Dar Re Mi's trainer John Gosden, a familiar face to US race fans, hinted the mare might be better for the outing and that she would be spot on for Ascot in late-July. Gosden is a fine judge and I am convinced that his charge will give a particularly good account of herself and let the three-year-old colts know they've been in a seriously tough race.