Tag: Ascot tips

Horse Racing Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

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

Ascot Friday Preview

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The British weather is playing havoc with running plans at the moment and there is clearly a lot of dissatisfaction at the 48-hour declaration system. Trainers have been moaning all season at having to declare horses without knowing the going. I don’t know the stats but there do seem to be an awful lot of non-runners lately. Both of Thursday’s selections were pulled out but I suppose that is better than getting beaten on unfavourable ground.

At the time of writing the going is reported to be good to soft at Ascot for Friday’s card. It has been raining cats and dogs up here in Scotland but presumably it is not so bad down south. Hopefully the going will be no worse than soft but it is probably enough to avoid those horses known to prefer top of the ground.

The feature race on Friday is the Listed Noel Murless Stakes and I’m going for York winner Dark Crusader to strike again here. He was confidently ridden on the Knavesmire and came through readily in the closing stages to win the valuable Melrose Stakes. He will appreciate any rain that falls and can beat the disappointing Greatwood.

Betting in six furlong handicaps is always a bit of a lottery but I’m tempted by the lightly-raced Blessington tomorrow. He raced only twice last season, winning well at Goodwood in a race that included Gatewood. I’m not sure why he has been off for so long and it is probably best not to know. John Gosden isn’t the most optimistic of souls when it comes to talking up his horses and he’d probably give this one little chance. Even so, at around 8-1 it could be worth taking a chance.

The last race is a bit of a conundrum. I put Gold Hunter into my notebook after an unlucky run at Doncaster but I’m not convinced that he wants it soft. He’s by Invincible Spirit and the feeling is that they don’t really like it deep. I’m also keen to have Brownsea Brink on my side because he seems like one of those horses that just does enough. He beat a huge field to win at Newmarket last time and 8-1 looks too big a price to ignore.

Young Oisin Murphy is all the rage after his remarkable four-timer on Ayr Gold Cup day. Andrew Balding has snapped him up to ride easy Kempton scorer Ballinderry Boy tomorrow in the Gordon Carter Handicap and the tip could be worth taking. The first two drew well clear in that race with the runner-up finishing second at Haydock in a decent race subsequently.

Blessington (3.05) 8-1 Ladbrokes

Dark Crusader (3.40) 7-2 Coral

Ballinderry Boy (4.15) 4-1 Coral

Brownsea Brink (4.50) 8-1 Coral

Ascot Saturday 7th September Preview

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Ascot provides a typically competitive card on Saturday and opens with a seven-furlong handicap at 1.55. Many of these horses have been running against each other all season, taking it in turns to scoop the big prizes. Galician bolted up in the International Stakes here whilst Glen Moss landed a huge gamble at Newbury last month. Field Of Dream had his turn in the Bunbury Cup whilst Excellent Guest won the Victoria Cup in the spring.

At present, the rain seems to be largely confined to the north so the going could remain on the fast side. The bookmakers have opened up at 7-1 the field and it is difficult to be confident about any of these. Glen Moss won so easily for us at Newbury that I had to follow him at Goodwood despite an unfavourable draw. Frankie Dettori bounced him out smartly but he was a spent force inside the final furlong and back-peddled quickly. He could be worth each-way support at 16-1.

There are some nice two-year-olds about at the moment but few can boast a finer pedigree than Andrew Balding’s Casual Smile. She is by the Guineas, Derby and Arc winner Sea The Stars out of Oaks winner Casual Look. She made her debut in a good maiden at Newmarket last month and stayed on very nicely into second over seven furlongs. She has only three opponents over a mile in the 3.00 race and I’d be disappointed if she can’t see them off.

Café Society has been well backed ante-post for the Ladbrokes Mobile Handicap and there certainly looks to be plenty more to come from this colt by Motivator. He was having only the fifth start of his career when just failing to catch Bold Sniper here last time. Spencer had him locked away on the rails and drove him out with hands and heels only to lose out by a neck. He had previously won going away at Salisbury and looks weighted to win this.

Sir Michael Stoute’s Plover has not managed to add to her victory in a Kempton maiden so far but she shaped promisingly at Newmarket last time. She is stepping up from seven furlongs to a mile and did nothing but stay on in the race won by Malekat Jamal from Ghasabah. The runner-up in that race is a filly that I like a lot and Plover could be good value in a race that shouldn’t take a lot of winning.

Balding has double prospects with Dungannon in the last. He never saw any daylight in the Sandown sprint won by Burning Thread but came through strongly to finish fourth. He shaped as though he could be ready for a big run and must have each-way claims.

Glen Moss 16-1 Stan James

Casual Smile 3-1 Bet365

Café Society 6-1 Paddy Power

Plover 8-1 Bet365

Dungannon 5-1 Bet365