Horse Racing Tips For Friday: Best Bets At Down Royal, Uttoxeter and Wetherby

Friday sees competitive racing across the UK and Ireland, with jump fixtures at Wetherby and Uttoxeter, flat action at Newmarket, and an evening all-weather card at Newcastle.  

Irish action takes place at Down Royal and Dundalk (evening), while ITV4 broadcasts live evening coverage of the prestigious Breeders’ Cup from Keeneland.

Our horse racing expert Steven Mullington suggests some horses to follow on the day:

1.00 Down Royal – Confidence Within

This point-to-point graduate heads over hurdles again for trainer Philip Rothwell in what looks like a very winnable contest.

The five-year-old showed plenty of promise when winning a bumper at Kilbeggan in August but could only manage third on his maiden hurdle debut at Listowel.

It must be noted however that he ran into the highly-touted Royal runner Reaching High that day, which was a difficult feat for any young horse trying to take on the Willie Mullins favourite.

This 2m6½f trip will be ideal for this Jet Away-gelding and Rothwell has the very able Tiernan Power Roche in the saddle.

2.45 Uttoxeter – Nevershedatear

Trained by the highly capable dual-license due of Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero, this yard excels at placing their handicap chasers on local regional tracks like Uttoxeter and they have found a great opening for the mare Nevershedatear today.

In what has been a torrid few days of misfortune for the stable, hopefully a corner can be turned with this five-year-old.

Her lifetime rules record is 0 wins from 7 runs, but she did win an Irish Point-to-Point maiden early in 2025 and I would like to think chasing is her game, rather than hurdling. She will probably be a decent each-way betting price too, so she’s definitely worth a flutter.

3.00 Wetherby – Minella Rockett 

The 2m Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle (Listed) is always a fascinating little contest on the Friday of the annual Charlie Hall meeting at Wetherby, and it can go they way of John Nallen’s Irish raider on this occasion.

The New Bay-gelding brings a rock-solid, sharp flat foundation with him. He is fit and well-schooled, having last run just over two weeks ago on 12 October 2026, finishing a respectable fourth in a competitive five-runner rated race at Roscommon.

Coming from a flat background, these fast, crisp conditions at Wetherby will suit Minella Rockett down to a tee, and with the going described as Good, Good to Firm in places, this will be music to the ears of his connections.

At odds of 11/4 in our horse racing betting, he’s well worth taking on the flat recruit and short favourite Charles Darnay with.

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*