Horsebetting.com give their 2018 Beckford Stakes betting tips. Irish raider True Self hails from the all-conquering yard of Willie Mullins and is our experts’ fancy to land the spoils in the Listed 1m 6f contest for fillies and mares at Bath on Wednesday, October 17, following an impressive success last time out. Altra Vita is a prolific win machine on a serious upward curve, so rates the main danger. Alwaysandforever, meanwhile, respresents last year’s winning handler Luca Cumnai and appeals each-way. Read our in-depth 2018 Beckford Stakes betting tips preview for more details on these horses’ chances.True Self the Beckford Stakes betIrish raider True Self scored in runaway style last time out and looks the one to be on in the feature race at Bath on Wednesday, the Listed 1m 6f Beckord Stakes for fillies and mares (15:25). This five-year-old hails from the yard of Willie Mullins and will be a first-ever runner at the Somerset venue for the Closutton handler.
The daughter of Oscar is a dual winner over hurdles and totally unexposed on the level having had just two starts. In the first of those, she shaped with stacks of promise when a 1 1/4 lengths runner-up to Cliffs Of Dooneen in a four-runner maiden at Bellewstown.
True Self looked all over the winner when tanking along at the head of affairs turning for home, but then got worn down and headed 50 yards from home. She travelled like the best horse in the race for much of the contest, while Cliffs Of Dooneen has won again since and finished a solid seventh of 17 to Limini in a Premier Handicap at Leopardstown to be rated 102.
That gives the form a fairly strong look, and True Self has since gone to sluice up by nine lengths from City Ballerina in an 11-runner maiden at Cork earlier in the month. She again travelled well throughout and, after taking up the running two from home, quickly asserted to forge clear and score with any amount in hand.
Although what True Self beat is questionable, the way in which she got the job done was visually very taking. It was a performance which suggested there more to come and she is clearly going the right way. This obviously represents a step up in class, but True Self has the potential to be much better than her current rating of 93 judged on her run behind Cliffs Of Dooneen when conceding that rival 9lb.
So, given that the top rated in this is the exposed three-year-old Galmarley on 101, who receives 7lb from True Self, she looks well worth a crack at this level. Mullins can also do little wrong at present, so True Self had to feature as the main selection in our 2018 Beckford Stakes betting tips.Upwardly mobile Altra Vita feared mostOff a mark of 85, Altra Vita has plenty to find on official ratings. However, this daughter of Animal Kingdom has an ultra-progressive profile having won five of her six starts this season and hails from the yard of the very shrewd Sir Mark Prescott. She is therefore feared most in a wide-open looking renewal of the Beckford.
Since winning on handicap debut over this course and distance back in June off a lowly mark of 55, this strapping three-year-old has constantly defied the assessor. She got hit with a 6lb rise in the weights after landing a seven-runner contest at Ffos Las two starts back, but made a totally mockery of her revised rating of 76 when bolting up at Newcastle last month.
Altra Vita made most in the hands of regular pilot Luke Morris and, after being shaken-up, drew clear inside the final two furlongs to slam Tuff Rock by nine lengths. She won doing cartwheels and it was a performance which suggested she could well be a pattern performer in the making. If that is to be the case, then she commands the utmost respect in this as her handler doesn’t go tilting at windmills with his inmates.
Altra Vita also has proven course form to her name having won both her starts at this venue. That is a big plus, as if the fact that she is two-from-two over the 1m 6f trip of this. So, taking everything into account, there is nothing not to like about her profile and Altra Vita looks sure to make a bold bid to make it four wins on the bounce.Alwaysandforever appeals each-wayNewmarket trainer saddled Aljezeera to land the spoils 12 months ago in what was just the second running of the race. His representative in this year’s renewal is Alwaysandforever, who looks to hold solid each-way claims on the pick of her form.
This four-year-old has won two of her nine starts. In the last of those successes, the daughter of Teofilio made a mockery of her handicap mark when scoring by nine lengths at Windsor back in May. Connections had little option but to to pitch Alwaysandforever into Listed company following an 11lb hike in the weights, and she ran very well when beaten just a short-head by Isabel De Urbina at Pontefract.
She then with credit in two similar grade affairs at Newmarket, including finishing a fine 1 1/2 lengths runner-up to Crimson Rosette over 1m 4f in August where she had the Galmarley and Mam’selle in behind in third and fourth respectively – so has nothing to fear from that re-opposing pair.
Alwaysandforever was then far from disgraced when fourth of seven to the high-class Lah Ti Dar in a Listed contest at York, before finding heavy ground against her when seventh of 14 last time out at Galway. The return to a sounder surface is sure to see her in a far better light and she now tries 1m 6f for the first time. Her run style suggests it may suit; so, at the odds on offer, she features as each-way selection in our 2018 Beckford Stakes betting tips.Your Next Bet
