Bath, Friday 5 June 2026: Tips & Selections

Bath, Friday 5 June 2026: Tips & Selections

Bath on a Friday evening under light rain, with good ground on the cards. Not the most glamorous fixture on the calendar, but there are three races worth dissecting and a couple of prices that genuinely appeal. The Epsom Derby is breathing down our necks tomorrow, so think of tonight as the warm-up act. Three competitive races, a range of profile types, and some interesting trainer angles to unpick.

5:00 — Larkhall Construction Handicap (1m6f)

Selection: No More Bolero (4/1, Boyle Sports / Betfred / LiveScore Bet)

James Owen runs at 19% wins at Bath with an A/E of 1.26, which tells you the yard delivers when it turns up here. No More Bolero has a ready-made excuse for that heavy defeat at Ripon last month. He slipped on the bend on the first circuit, which effectively ended his race before it started. You cannot read anything into that run at all.

Strip that out, and the picture looks considerably brighter. He won over course and distance in April off a mark 4lb lower, and was a good second at Ripon before the mishap. The switch from a visor to blinkers is a yard signal that Owen wants to see improvement, and at 4/1 in a competitive but beatable eight-runner handicap, the each-way terms hold up nicely.

Lusaka is the obvious danger. He was second to this horse over the C&D in April and collects 5lb in the weights for a renewed meeting. However, he goes without a win since 2023 and faces a gelding who looks like he found his level on the Flat. Taritino, who won this equivalent race two years ago, deserves respect on that seasonal form line, but at 4/1 No More Bolero is the bet.

5:35 — Juddmonte EBF Restricted Maiden Stakes (5½f)

Selection: South West Each-Way (5/1, Boyle Sports / Betfred / LiveScore Bet)

Richard Hughes has been hitting a healthy 4/24 over the last 14 days and his runners are clearly in form. South West is a debut runner from the yard and the Spotlight commentary explicitly flags it as a horse worth monitoring in the market, which is a notable signal on its own.

The breeding stacks up for five and a half furlongs on good ground. A Supremacy half-sibling with several winners in the family, including multiple US turf winners. Hughes runs a tight ship at Lambourn and does not throw horses in at the deep end without purpose. When a debutant from a yard firing like this gets five-to-one in a 12-runner maiden, you take it.

Bill The Bull is odds-on favourite and sets the form standard, having run fourth in a Listed race at Sandown very recently. That form is solid. But odds-on about a horse who has finished fourth three times and has yet to win is a harder sell than a well-bred debutant from a hot trainer at 5/1. The each-way play at three places makes the risk entirely manageable.

6:40 — RUHX Handicap (5½f)

Selection: Lequinto (7/2, Boyle Sports / Betfred / LiveScore Bet)

Tony Carroll has been in excellent form over the last two weeks with 8 winners from 43 runners, and Lequinto arrives here in the best shape he has been in for some time. He recorded his seventh course win at Windsor last month on the switch back to turf, suggesting the penny has well and truly dropped with him at this time of year.

Yes, he is 3lb higher than for that Windsor success, but the Spotlight does not dismiss him and a horse with that many course wins under his belt at this level does not lose his ability overnight. He has form at 5f on turf and a clean recent run to build on. At 7/2 with the trainer firing, he is a confident selection.

Strike is interesting, with two placed efforts over course and distance this season, but the key caveat in the commentary is “if the ground is in his favour.” With light rain today and good underfoot, that is not a certainty. Jax Edge has won at Bath before and sits 3lb below her last winning mark, so she keeps a watching brief. Lequinto at 7/2 is the pick.

Today’s NAP

No More Bolero — Larkhall Construction Handicap (5:00, Bath)
Odds: 4/1 — Boyle Sports (others: 4/1 Betfred, 4/1 LiveScore Bet)

James Owen is a 19% course winner at Bath with a healthy A/E of 1.26, and this horse won here in April before a meaningless run at Ripon where he slipped on the bend. That excuse is genuine and backed up by the Spotlight analysis. The visor-to-blinkers headgear switch is an owner and trainer signal, not a desperation move. At 4/1 on a track and trip he has already proven he handles, this is the value bet of the evening.