Tag: Ascot

Ascot Friday Preview

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There are some very promising novices on show at Ascot on Friday on the opening day of the Ladbroke meeting. 21 runners have stood their ground for the big race on Saturday with our midweek selections of Dell Arca (10-1) and Flaxen Flare (16-1) among them.

The pick of tomorrow’s action is the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Hurdle and I believe Irving is over-priced at 11-4 in the early betting. It is true that Nicky Henderson has his usual endless supply of promising young hurdlers and Volnay De Thaix is the hot favourite here.

Whilst he could hardly have been impressive when winning at Newbury last time, it could justifiably be called an “egg and spoon” race and he hasn’t faced anything as smart as Irving. He may well prove too good for the Nicholls horse but the disparity in the odds making it a simple choice.

Irving was just as impressive at Ascot, cruising clear of A Hare Breath. That horse was only fourth subsequently but never seriously threatened to get near to Irving. Nick Scholfield is making the most of the glorious opportunity given to him at the Ditcheat yard and he rates the horse very highly.

My second selection is Raya Star in the novice chase. I must admit I am slightly worried by reports of a “mystery malaise” affecting some of Alan King’s runners but I’ve long been a supporter of this horse. He was a very good hurdler, winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr and the Ladbroke Hurdle over this course.

I am not convinced that Cheltenham suits him because he ran poorly there in the County Hurdle and he was well held when beaten by Dodging Bullets in November. King’s novice chasers have been slightly disappointing of late but this fellow should run well providing the going doesn’t deteriorate too much.

His best form has been on a sound surface but he handles soft ok. Fox Appeal may have been flattered by his second to Wonderful Charm and Mr Mole was not the most reliable performer over hurdles. He is one of several promising rides for Tony McCoy including Carningli who should return to winning ways in the last.

Irving 11-4 William Hill

Raya Star 7-2 Coral

Ladbroke Hurdle Preview

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The Ladbroke Hurdle is one of the most competitive handicap hurdles of the season and a massive 27 horses were declared at the six-day stage. With multiple entries from several of the top stables, this looks a bit of a minefield to untangle.

Paul Nicholls has the two top weights in Ptit Zig and Sametegal plus Irish Saint who was considered a high class novice. As a rule, I don’t like backing top weights in races such as this. They need to be Champion Hurdle class to win off anything over 11st 7lb and I don’t think there is anything of that calibre here.

Sametegal ran a game race when only beaten half a length by Dell Arca in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham. He looked as though he may even win jumping the last but was just run out of it in the closing stages. Both horses have gone up in the handicap and there should be little between them but you have to favour the Pipe horse with only 10st 11lb.

The classy French import has gone up 8lbs for that win but he looks capable of featuring again here. That was his first race outside of France and he seemed totally unperturbed by the hustle and bustle at Cheltenham. He looks outstanding each-way value at around 10-1.

Flaxen Flare interests me most of the others that ran in the Greatwood. Trainer Gordon Elliott won this race 12 months ago with Cause Of Causes and has had this event pencilled in for some time for his Fred Winter winner. He has a handy pull in the weights with Dell Arca and Sametegal and also warrants each-way support at 16-1.

Nicky Henderson’s Rolling Star was a bitter disappointment in the Triumph Hurdle and again at Liverpool last season. The Haydock race he won may not have been a high quality renewal and I can’t support him under a welter burden of 11st 11lb. Willie Mullins has not really set the world alight with his raiders so far and he could rely on hat-trick seeking City Slicker. He is difficult to assess but could go well off a nice racing weight.

The sports columns have been tipping Totalize and his price has tumbled this week. He may have been interesting at 25-1 but he looks less attractive at half those odds. Chatterbox could finish ahead of Rolling Star and should finish ahead of Chris Pea Green and Irish Saint on Newbury form.

Dell Arca (each-way) 10-1 Bet365

Flaxen Flare (each-way) 16-1 BetVictor

Racing Preview 23rd November

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The eight runners have stood their ground for the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday and it promises to be a cracker. There has been virtually no change in the market other than for Bobs Worth to ease out to a top price of 11-4.

Earlier in the week I recommended Silviniaco Conti and Dynaste against the favourite. All three are having their first outing of the new season so it is difficult to be too confident. The Gold Cup market is certainly in for a shake up on Saturday night.

Lie Forrit’s price in the Fixed Brush Hurdle has tumbled from 14-1 to 9-1 and I’m hopeful of a good run. It’s a tricky race with Gullinbursti reverting to hurdles after winning by 27 lengths over fences and a number of other fancied runners.

Far West was beaten by Melodic Rendezvous on his comeback race a couple of weeks ago but should strip fitter at Haydock tomorrow. He holds Rolling Star on their previous clash in the Triumph Hurdle and should give Nick Scholfield another high-profile winner in his new roles as stable number 2 jockey to Paul Nicholls.

Home Run was a 40-1 shot when triggering a four-timer for David Pipe last Sunday and turns out again quickly off bottom weight. Kieron Edgar again claims 7lbs off his back and he looks weighted to go close in a competitive race.

Ascot’s card has cut up badly and there are only seven runners in total for the two feature races. Whether this is the timing of the meeting I am not sure but I would have thought the sponsors will be less than pleased.

With betting opportunities somewhat limited, I’m going to keep faith with another Nicholls runner in Zarkandar for the Coral Hurdle. Annie Power is coming over from Ireland with a huge reputation but she’s never met anything of Zarkandar’s class and 7-4 looks too good to refuse.

Far West 12.45 Haydock 5-4 Bet365

Home Run 1.50 Haydock 6-1 BetVictor

Lie Forrit 2.25 Haydock *14-1 Ante-post

Silviniaco Conti 3.00 Haydock *5-2 Ante-post

Dynaste 3.00 Haydock *7-1 Ante-post

Zarkandar 2.40 Ascot 7-4 Coral

Horse Racing Saturday Preview

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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

Racing Preview Saturday 5th October

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Ballinderry Boy (tipped at 4-1) gave us something to shout about at Ascot on Friday and young Oisin Murphy certainly looks like a star of the future. It presumably won’t be too long before he is snapped up to ride for one of the leading owners. As anticipated, the rest of the card proved difficult although Blessington (2nd) ran a promising race and can win before the season is out.

I’m previewing the Arc separately but there is plenty of racing going on in the UK to keep punters happy this weekend. If you thought Ascot’s card was difficult on Friday, the bad news is that it looks even harder on Saturday! There is competitive racing throughout with the bookies going 8-1 the field in the Challenge Cup.

Ascription has not exactly been let in lightly with top weight but this trip and ground should suit him better than the nine furlongs of the Cambridgeshire, his intended target before the ground firmed up. There will probably be something lurking lower down the handicap to beat him but I’m hoping that he will give us a run for our money.

Nargys has been called a few names this season after turning in below par efforts. She is very smart on her day and things finally fell right for her at Doncaster last month when she won the Group 3 Sceptre Stakes. I’m hoping that the soft ground is the key to her and that she can repeat that performance on Saturday.

The Cornwallis Stakes looks wide open but I believe that Royal Mezyan is over priced at 11-1. He won very easily last time and had previously finished close up behind No Nay Never at Royal Ascot.

Over at Redcar, I’m surprised to see Emirates Flyer priced up as high as 7-1. If he bolts up tomorrow a few people will be kicking themselves for not believing his 2-length second to Kingman at Sandown. It is true that the 2000 Guineas favourite had a lot more up his sleeve but Emirates Flyer might just have more class than most of these.

Johnny Murtagh has been winning everything in sight since he obtained his training licence and he has a good chance of adding the Tattersalls Millions tomorrow. He rides Toofi for Roger Varian who landed a gamble when beating Jallota here 2 weeks ago. Oklahoma City is the obvious threat but 9-2 looks decent value.

Hopefully Luca Cumani’s Ajman Bridge can round off the day’s proceedings with victory in the closing handicap. He was having only his second start when winning nicely at Pontefract in a race that looked fairly decent. He shaped like a horse with a future and can take this on the way to better things.

Ascot 2.05 Royal Mezyan 11-1 Coral, William Hill

Ascot 3.50 Ascription 8-1 William Hill

Ascot 4.25 Nargys 4-1 William Hill

Redcar 3.30 Emirates Flyer 7-1 Bet365, BetVictor

Newmarket 2.20 Toofi 9-2 William Hill

Newmarket 5.15 Ajman Bridge 15-8 William Hill

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