In his regular column, Daily Star Chief Tipster Jason Heavey shares his insights on horses to watch in the coming week and beyond. Heavey is one of the country's leading newspaper tipsters, having achieved the rare double in 2023 of winning both the Racing Post Press Challenge and the Racing Post Naps Table. He is currently the leading "red-top" tipster in the National Press Challenge table.
Each week, he brings you the 'Ante-post Focus' – a look at some of the big races to come; 'This Week' – tips on horses running over the next few days; and 'Future Winners' – horses to keep an eye on.
York Ebor Festival Recap
The York Ebor Festival was a tough event for many punters, including Heavey. Air Force One flew home to start day one perfectly, but it was downhill after that. Despite a few near misses, Heavey highlights several horses that could have won, should have won, or may win next time out.
My Remas made a lovely debut in the Convivial Maiden for trainer Andrew Balding and should win next time up. In the same race, Dover Street was an excellent second at 40-1 and is a surefire future winner. Kirchner is also worth another chance after running a strange race where he received a moderate ride.
This Week's Tips
This Saturday, Zavateri, Distant Storm, and Shayem head the market for the Celebration Mile at Goodwood, but Heavey's eye is drawn to Diego Ventura and Naqeeb. Diego Ventura is best priced 16-1 at the time of writing, and if he lines up, that seems a very good each-way play, while Naqeeb at 20-1 is a real course specialist.
Gower Prince (6.12) bolted up 12 days ago and is a strong fancy to follow up at Newton Abbot on Thursday. The underrated Richie McLernon got a lovely tune out of the eight-year-old, who has clearly benefited from a change of scenery at Jonjo and AJ O'Neill's yard. He is up 7lb to a rating of 108 but is far behind his peak 117 mark when trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies.
It's A Breeze (7.12, trb) has been a revelation over fences for Paul Nicholls and can complete a hat-trick at the Devon track he clearly likes. The intermediate trip of 2m 5f and fast ground will suit, and Paddy Hanlon rode him with confidence to win last month.
Future Winners
On Friday, Box Clever (4.45) looks a punchy bet at Sandown after a decisive success last week. Art Lover (4.00) heads north to Thirsk for the William Haggas team and can make the journey pay off.
In the future winners list, Motawaared is getting closer to a first success for Jim Goldie, and Dragon God got no sort of run at Windsor on Monday but didn't have a hard race and should score again very soon.
