Our horse racing tipster is back with his latest selections for Friday, February 23.
It’s a busy meet at Wolverhampton, where Paul O’Brien has his eyes on Lihou, Almodovar Del Rio and Bella Bluesky.
Read his picks in full below...
Lihou (4:55pm at Wolverhampton) @ 12/1 (E/W)
This race is a wide-open affair with three horses declared who won last time out - The Thames Boatman, Star of Lady M and Gustav Graves. All of those three are now higher in the handicap as a result.
If you are looking for better value than those short-odds horses, then Lihou is worth a punt. The eight-year-old gelding has been a steady performer at this level but has now been dropped back down the weights after a couple of disappointing appearances this year where he lacked the finish to win.
Lihou is now back below his handicap rating of his last win, which was at Goodwood last August, and so he will definitely be up there in contention with the leaders and could deliver again. He's well worth an each-way bet.
Almodovar Del Rio (5:30pm at Wolverhampton) @ 8/1
This five-year-old gelding came second last time out at Southwell on January 25 after leading until the final furlong, but was only beaten by 3/4 lengths by repeat winner Bobby Joe Leg.
That was Almodovar's first run in eight months so he can be forgiven for being a bit rusty, and if he improves on that performance then he should have enough to win this.
One serious challenger could be four-year-old gelding Beylerbeyi, but he has a tendency of starting too keenly and has previously fallen away at the finish.
Bella Bluesky (7:30pm at Wolverhampton) @ 11/4
This eight-year-old mare is seeking her third back-to-back victory this month, following wins at Southwell and Wolverhampton.
This race is two furlongs longer than those wins but shouldn't present any issues for a horse who showed stamina and speed at 1m 4f and pulled away in the final furlong to win by a length-and-a-half at this track just a week ago.
She has been reunited with jockey Jason Hart, who rode both her last two wins, so is likely to score a hat-trick today.
