In their wisdom, Channel 4 has decided against covering the opening meeting of the season at Cheltenham. Instead, racing fans have to suffer half an hour of waffle between the five Group races at Ascot’s Champions Day. This is a slap in the face for the many national hunt fans that already have to make do with virtually no midweek racing for much of the winter.
I’ll start with Cheltenham’s card and I’m particularly interested in Alan King’s Balder Succes who took to fences with aplomb on his chasing debut last week. He beat a couple of potentially useful sorts at Chepstow and turns out again quickly to tackle the big Cheltenham fences. He is priced at second favourite behind the Paul Nicholls-trained Dark Lover.
Balder Succes won his first three races over hurdles before falling in the Triumph Hurdle and then unseating his rider at Aintree. He has lost his form since then but looked happy in his new sphere and I’ll take him to go in again. King also saddles Handazan who won a handicap hurdle on the same Chepstow card. Sametegal was second in the Scottish Champion Hurdle and Irish raider Bayan is on a four-timer so this will take more winning.
There are plenty of star names at Ascot tomorrow but the soft ground and the fact that this meeting comes so late in the season dents the confidence a little. The logical form selections are Estimate, Maarek, Cirrus des Aigles and Dawn Approach but things are rarely that simple. All four have been backed down to relatively short odds but there could be better value elsewhere.
The French dominated the Arc meeting with only Maarek avoiding a blank for GB & Ireland. Whatever the fate of Cirrus des Aigles, they must go close with Dalkala and Maxios. Christophe Soumillon lifted Dalkala’s head in front on the line in the Prix de l’Opera but she did not have a particularly hard race. She would have been better suited by a stronger pace and the step up to a mile and a half will help her cause.
Maxios slammed Olympic Glory by five lengths last time out but both horses are priced at around 9-2. If Dawn Approach is feeling the effects of a long season, Maxios must have every chance of landing the spoils.
Balder Succes (5.00 Cheltenham) 9-4 Totesport
Dalkala (2.55 Ascot) 9-2 Boylesports
Maxios (3.30 Ascot) 9-2 Paddy Power
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
