Winning verdict, winning favourite, winning margin of a head. Brave Nation took the 4:50 Keep Your Raceday Positive Handicap at Newmarket at 15/8 under Billy Loughnane — and this time the bet cashed.
| Pos | Horse | Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brave Nation | Billy Loughnane | 15/8F |
| 2nd | Lion’s House | Paddy Bradley | 9/4 |
| 3rd | Thornaby Pearl | Oliver Carmichael | 9/2 |
The Race Story
The five-furlong Class 5 dash on the July Course came down to the last strides, Brave Nation holding Lion’s House by a head with a neck back to Thornaby Pearl and a length and a half to the fourth in the field of six. Michael Attwater’s sprinter had shaped well in traffic at Sandown on his first start for the yard and, off a career-low mark with Loughnane doing the steering, he finally ended the losing run the preview said he would.
Lion’s House, backed from 4/1 into 9/4, made the winner pull out everything, while course-and-distance winner Merrimack — successful over track and trip only last week — could not land a blow.
Tipster Accountability
Our Newmarket preview verdict read: “Brave Nation to end his losing run with Loughnane taking 2lb off.” He obliged at 15/8 — a clean, straightforward winning bet, the preview’s second winning verdict on this card. The value call Thornaby Pearl ran third at 9/2, no use in a six-runner race with two places. No tracked tipsters from today’s review were on.
Looking Ahead
Newmarket’s 5:23 finale is the William Hill Price Boosts Apprentice Handicap over a mile and six furlongs, where the preview sides with Jack Langley at 15/8 for the Charlie Clover stable — a yard already on the scoresheet today after Norcross Brow’s 4:09 win at Haydock. Earlier on this card, Arctic Dawn edged Castle Rock in the 3:40.
