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

Horse racing tips today:

• 17:00 Newcastle – We Still Believe – 1pt @ 14/1 with William Hill
• 17:30 Newcastle – Hailey Ya Mal – 1pt @ 80/1 with Bet365

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

17:00 Newcastle – We Still Believe – 1pt @ 14/1

We Still Believe has scored at this track on three occasions, including twice over C&D, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he were to prove capable of winning this race as well. His most recent form has come over hurdlers but he looked to be on good terms with himself for both of his January outings.

The visor worn for his last three starts is removed and Jason Hart is booked. His record on board the horse reads 1-2 and he’s 5-15 when riding for Daragh Bourke. It could indicate that the horse is fancied to go well and any of the double-figured quotes on offer look generous enough to me.

17:30 Newcastle – Hailey Ya Mal – 1pt @ 80/1

Siding with Hailey Ya Mal could be a serious waste of my time and he is more likely to finish out the back than he is to win. However, he has shown some ability on two of his three runs for this yard and may not have appreciated going from the front when running over 7f at Southwell.

It’s fanciful to put his performance solely down to tactics but it was also his handicap debut and I get the impression that he’d be happier being waited with in a sprint. He ran a reasonable race in a novice over 5f in January and just lacked the speed to get involved, so 6f could be right up his street.

I think the stiffer track of Newcastle will play to his strengths as well and it’s just a matter of whether he’s good enough to compete off 60 against this level of opposition. It’s tough to know and the betting suggests he isn’t, but I wouldn’t be so certain. At the prices, the risk is worth it.

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