Pontefract Tips: Friday 17 July 2026

Pontefract Tips: Friday 17 July 2026

A compact six-race card at Pontefract this Friday evening, with the Go-Racing-In-Yorkshire Summer Festival branding adding a bit of colour to what is, at its core, a solid northern flat programme. Three races have been provided for analysis and there are genuine angles worth backing. Silvestre De Sousa is the jockey to follow around here, his 20% course strike rate backed by a positive A/E of 1.11 across 440 rides. Trainer Adrian Keatley also catches the eye with his Pontefract numbers, 17% winners and an A/E of 1.74 from Craig Lidster’s slightly superior raw number. Keep those yards on your radar throughout the card.

For anyone splitting their attention tonight, the Betfred World Matchplay gets underway at Blackpool tomorrow and the Belgian Grand Prix kicks off at Spa on Sunday, so this is the weekend’s sporting curtain-raiser. Make it count.

7:07 — Sky Bet Go-Racing-In-Yorkshire Summer Festival Handicap Stakes (5f)

This five-furlong sprint has several live claims but the race pivots around two horses who have both won their last two starts: Badri at 3/1 and I’m Next at 7/2. On the data provided, the nod goes to I’m Next (David Allan, Tim Easterby) at 7/2 with Boyle Sports and Betfred.

The Easterby yard has been busy, eight winners from 73 runners over the past fortnight, which is a respectable clip for a large northern operation. I’m Next has won his last two and holds a form line of 140311, meaning he was winning before a brief dip and has come back even better. From stall seven in a seven-runner field there is no significant draw concern at this trip, and David Allan knows this track well.

Badri is the obvious danger at 3/1, carrying the top weight on a 10-day turnaround, and Vantheman from stall one has the rail to help, though Kevin Ryan’s yard is misfiring badly right now, one winner from 25 runners in the past fortnight. That stat alone is enough to knock Vantheman down the pecking order. Reigning Profit (15/2) won last time but his figures suggest that was a flash in the pan for now. I’m Next to confirm his winning form at a fair price.

Selection: I’m Next, 7/2 (Boyle Sports / Betfred)

6:32 — G3 Vehicle Auctions EBF Restricted Novice Stakes (6f)

Juvenile novice form is notoriously hard to read, particularly when several horses have just one or two runs under their belts. The market makes Maximus Meridius the 2/1 favourite, and with Silvestre De Sousa in the saddle and trainer David Loughnane running at a hot 4/14 (29%) over the past two weeks, there is obvious logic to that.

But the angle here is Angel In My Heart Each-Way (Oisin McSweeney, Adrian Keatley) at 11/2 with Boyle Sports and Betfred. Keatley is one of the sharpest Pontefract operators on the card, 17% winners at the track with a strong A/E figure. McSweeney posts 17% here himself, A/E of 1.34. Both are live Pontefract players. The filly has one run under her belt, a fourth, and at 11/2 against a field of juveniles with similarly thin form profiles, she represents a clear each-way play in a seven-runner field where the placed money goes two deep.

Baldetti at 3/1 (Michael Dods) makes appeal too, placed on debut and now with that experience banked. But Dods has been quiet of late at 3 from 29 over the past fortnight. Maximus Meridius is hard to ignore at the head of the market, but the trainer/jockey combination on Angel In My Heart is simply too good to pass up at more than double the favourite’s price.

Selection: Angel In My Heart (Each-Way), 11/2 (Boyle Sports / Betfred)

7:42 — Sky Bet For The Fans Handicap Stakes (1m)

A small six-runner field over a mile, and this one is relatively straightforward. Best Rate (Seamus Cronin, Richard Hannon) tops the figures, won last time out, and returns quickly on a seven-day turnaround from stall three. The Hannon yard has six winners from 50 runners over the past fortnight, solid enough, and at 5/6 with Boyle Sports and Betfred he is the deserved favourite.

The value angle, however, is Empirestateofmind Each-Way (James Sullivan, John and Sean Quinn) at 18/1 with Boyle Sports and Betfred. His bare form reads poorly on the surface, two ninths in his last two starts, but the comment data is explicit: he is rated significantly above his current official mark of 74. John and Sean Quinn are the top Pontefract trainer in the data, 21% strike rate and an A/E of 1.64, yet they are currently on a cold run of 0 from 8 over the past fortnight. A yard that good does not stay cold forever, and when the market underestimates a horse rated well above his handicap mark, that is when 18/1 becomes interesting.

Sailthisshipalone at 11/2 has course-form credentials with Silvestre De Sousa aboard, but the Ivan Furtado yard is badly out of form at 2 from 28 runners. Jez Bomb (3/1) is rated fifth of six despite winning last time, which limits enthusiasm. Best Rate wins the race, but Empirestateofmind is the each-way dart at a big price in a small field, trusting the Quinn stable to find their form at a track where they genuinely thrive.

Selection: Best Rate to win, Empirestateofmind each-way at 18/1

Today’s NAP

I’m Next — Sky Bet Go-Racing-In-Yorkshire Summer Festival Handicap Stakes (7:07, Pontefract)
Odds: 7/2 — Boyle Sports (others: 7/2 Betfred, 7/2 LiveScore Bet)

Two wins on the spin, a trainer operating at a workable pace across a large string, and a race where the main market rivals are either trained by a yard running cold or carrying concerns about stepping up to this level of competition. I’m Next has done everything asked of him in recent starts and at 7/2 he represents genuine value in a five-furlong sprint where proven winning form is the clearest guide. David Allan rides with purpose and knows how to kick a horse clear from a wide draw at this course.