Horse racing tips: James Boyle's best bets for Friday

Horse racing tips today:

• 13:17 Lingfield – Arika – 1pt @ 16/1 with Unibet
• 13:47 Lingfield – Muy Muy Guapo – 1pt @ 20/1 with William Hill

For today's horse racing tips, our analyst James Boyle looks at the flat racing meeting at Lingfield with two selections now online.

As always, you’ll find up-to-date odds at the bookmakers, but our tipster’s predictions are researched early in the day and those prices could soon be moved in by the betting public. 

Odds stated are correct at the time of publishing, but check out today's racecards for all the latest movements. 

13:17 Lingfield – Arika – 1pt @ 16/1

Arika hasn’t stood much racing for a five-year-old and remains with untapped potential, especially up to a mile for the first time. He has raced three times in the last couple of months, all at 7f, and shaped well on a couple of occasions at Wolverhampton and Southwell. 

His latest effort was a regression and adds in the possibility that he may have gone back out of form. However, I’m thinking his lack of speed caught him out in a thoroughly run affair and we could see a better run this time around over the longer trip, assuming he takes to this track and surface.

From a handicapping perspective, he’s now 3lbs lower than his two-length fifth behind subsequent winner Thapa Vc around Christmas and that’s manageable. Hollie Doyle is a positive booking for the yard and if she gets him into a nice rhythm, we could see an improved performance.

13:47 Lingfield – Muy Muy Guapo – 1pt @ 20/1

Muy Muy Guapo is not the sort of horse you want to back when you’re struggling to pick winners but I can’t let him go unsupported at the current price. He doesn’t like the stalls and has missed the break very badly on a few occasions, ensuring he had no chance of winning his races.

However, there’s ability in the locker and from another career-low mark, alongside being upped to 7f, it may be worth taking a punt on him. He wasn’t disgraced on any of his last few outings either and has gone well fresh before, so the few months since he was last seen may do no harm.

His chance will depend on the start but if he’s not too slowly away, it’s likely they’ll be going quick up top and he could be finishing as fast as anything else. He’s unexposed at the distance as well and based on a few of his runs, it could bring out more in him. 16/1 or bigger is acceptable for me.

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