Our star daily duo of Rory Delargy and David Massey have their say on today's racing.
Racing betting tips: Thursday October 23
0.5pts e.w Hiatus in the 2.30 Nottingham at 18/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4 General, min 14/1)
1pt e.w Charming Fellow in the 3.30 Nottingham at 17/2 (1/5 1,2,3,4 General, min 13/2)
1pt win Bowling Shane in the 4.32 Nottingham at 5/1 (General, min 9/2)
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2:00 Nottingham – Class 5 (0-70) Nursery 6f18y
This nursery should be set up for a finisher, with no shortage of potential front-runners to ensure a strong gallop from the outset, and that will play to the strengths of Madman, who is expected to finish well from off the pace. Last time at Leicester, Madman ran his best race to date when a length second of 14 to Arry Up in a similar nursery despite being unsuited by the way the race developed.
He fared best of the hold-up horses, at the Oadby venue, finishing with purpose after conceding the well-ridden winner first run. That effort suggests he’s better than the bare result implies, and with a more honest early pace expected here, he’s poised for a big run. The visor he wore for the first time at Leicester may well have been a catalyst for his improvement and the headgear is retained here.
2:30 Nottingham – Class 5 (0-70) Handicap 6f18y
This looks a particularly competitive sprint handicap, with the soft ground likely to play a significant role in the outcome. Not only will conditions help those who need to get their toe in, but a big field in soft ground is likely to see those drawn low at a disadvantage.
Safari Dream and Bill Plumb are both in form and drawn on the stands side, which is likely to be an advantage, but a chance is taken on HIATUS, who has probably needed a couple of recent runs to blow away the cobwebs and is now back on a potentially lenient mark. Best when delivered late, Hiatus showed he handles testing ground well with a win at Chepstow last May in ground which was close to heavy, and he had previously finished second at Haydock on a similar surface. Those runs came off marks in the high 60’s and he’s been placed off higher still last winter on the all-weather, making the frame Kempton and Southwell when rated 74. He was off over seven months before running down the field at the latter track early this month, and still looked rusty when well held in a 0-85 contest at Chelmsford a week ago. It would be easy to put a line through his chance here, but the drop in class and return to soft turf are both potential catalysts for a return to form, and he should be close to peak fitness on his third run since his summer hiatus (sorry, not sorry).
3:30 Nottingham – Class 6 (0-60) Handicap 1m75y
CHARMING FELLOW is a lightly-raced 3-y-o who looks to have been brought along steadily and now returns to his optimum conditions. He shaped well when runner-up to Kiss Me My Love at Beverley last time (1m½f, soft), only just failing to reel in the winner, and producing a career-best effort on the figures. That followed a solid third at Windsor (1m, soft) in a big field, while his sole career win came at Pontefract last autumn on soft-to-heavy ground, where he travelled strongly and put the race to bed in good style, confirming his liking for testing conditions.
His pedigree (by Charming Thought out of an Authorized mare) promises that he ought to be a mudlark, and that seems to be the case, with his form figures (13234) on soft or deeper ground comparing to (09067) on quicker surfaces. With just ten starts under his belt, he remains open to further improvement, and remains just 3lb above his last winning mark.
Peter Chapple-Hyam has a fine record over C&D (10 wins from 41 runners) and the only concern is whether or not he will react positively to the fitting of cheekpieces.
4:32 Nottingham
There’s a few unexposed ones in here to have a look at but the most interesting of them all is the wonderfully-named BOWLING SHANE (Australia - Ultra Appeal, and a full brother to the useful Oz Legend), who has been very much brought along like a handicap project and should enjoy this step up in trip on handicap debut this afternoon.
Clueless on debut over a mile at Kempton, there were better signs at Ffos Las on his next start and better again at Kempton last time when it really looked like the penny was dropping. He finished a staying-on fourth to Port Of London there, doing some solid late work and looking ready for further. The booking of Kieran Shoemark catches the eye too, and an improved effort looks on the cards.
7:30 Southwell
Whatever Richard Fahey’s been feeding them lately it seems to be working, with (of course) a 200-1 Grade 1 winner at Ascot at the weekend but even taking that out of the equation, his horses are probably running as well now as they have done in an otherwise patchy year for the yard. Lesley’s Boy would have made plenty of appeal here even without the better yard form, but confidence is increased a bit given that.
Like many from Fahey’s stable, he’s been having a tough time of it this year but a visor seemed to stop the rot at Doncaster in the summer, third to Run Amok before another below-par effort at Ripon. It was much better returned to Tapeta here last time, however, Lesley’s Boy finishing a two-length fourth to Hierarchy in a race that’s worked out well; the winner had an off-day next time but the third, fifth and seventh all won their next starts, giving the form a very solid look. Now a stone lower in the weights than he was at the start of the year, if he can build again on that, he should hold a good chance in a race that should be run to suit.
Preview posted 0940 BST on 22/10/25
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