Another truly wonderful spectacle awaits this weekend in the Victor Chandler chase and the horses that go to post will all be looking for a solid performance as the festival is fastly approaching and it's safe to say now that all roads lead to Cheltenham.
Before I begin to preview my tips for Saturday, I'd like to mention the tremendous performance that Hey Big Spender displayed in a weight defying performance which showed just what a classy stayer this Colin Tizzard trained thoroughbred is. Not to mention Mike's horse talk picked him out!
On with the card...
Ascot
1.00pm 2m 3f Novices Handicap Chase
The ground could be on the soft side and that is important depending on how much rain falls between now and Saturday so a look at the forecast has already been researched and I'm certain softer side of good is to be expected. OLDRIK sticks out here has ran two blinding runs in as many starts winning on both occasions and looks the type to keep this excellent run going. OLDRIK will go well on the ground and is a solid jumper, Philip Hobbs is also in great form particularly in the last two weeks.
2.05 3m Mares Hurdle
Tricky, trappy and a conundrum which conversely lends itself to being a very interesting betting proposition as the bookies may get this wrong when pricing up these classy females. I'm siding with KENTFORD GREY LADY. This horse has had the better of Violin Davis and Cloudy Spirit and seems to have an excellent level of fitness for the longer trip as she showed at Kempton last time out and in doing so illustrated her ability to stay on in the finish coupled with classy jumping leaves me with no doubt that a good run is expected.
2.35 Hollywells Handicap Hurdle 2m 3f
Alan King is having a very positive season in which his juveniles look positively explosive and SMAD PLACE looks to have the class over most of these. Last season this horse set a very good standard running well in all his races bar his last start which may have been a bridge to far in the Triumph Hurdle. The horses that went to post that day were the likes of Grandouet,Zarkandar and the classy Unaccompanied all who have rubber stamped the form lines since. SMAD PLACE will enjoy most types of ground and it looks like Alan King will be a familiar face in the winners enclosure once again.
3.10 Victor Chandler Chase 2m 1f
Henrietta Knight has put some money in my pocket this season and I'm counting on the astute trainer to deliver again. I read earlier this week that the classy SOMERSBY has been working tremendously at home and that at a present 6/1 could be the bet of the day. The reasons are as follows SOMERSBY travels well in races over 2m to 3 miles, the horse has ran against the best Kauto Star, Master Minded amongst others, ran a blinder in this race 12 months ago. The horse is a solid, solid animal and with Dominic Elsworth in the saddle who won beautifully on Calgary Bay at Cheltenham New Years Day I can see a huge performance on the cards. This old timer will beat the young pretenders. Al Ferof didn't impress me at Sandown last time and looked like he can be beaten after an all out ride from Ruby only just helped him to hold on. Finians Rainbows jumping is more than questionable particularly at Kempton and Aintree the time before that and I do think that puts pain to his chances. SOMERSBY ticks all the right boxes for a trainer I admire greatly.
3.45 Handicap Chase 2m 5f
Another excellent renewal of this race in which the 2011 winner Tatanen won in tremendous fashion by 16 lengths a year ago can that horse who lines up again do it in 2012? The answer to that question is a big fat NO. I believe that ZAYNAR will certainly be hard to beat and may well be the obvious choice. ZAYNAR comes here on the back of an excellent victory in his last run at this track and looks to have the stamina over this longer trip and will probably try and make all the running. However, I'm tipping two here as the weights may indeed play a part so my other choice is a consistent type who has had some of his form franked recently and the horse I'm talking about is HECTORS CHOICE this horse is in excellent condition and ran superb when losing narrowly to Calgary Bay his jumping that day was very consistent and this trip seems to be perfect for him, has a nice each way chance.
Haydock Park
As it's now confirmed that racing will go ahead I've put a few more selections up on a very good card, remember the ground is desperate!
2.20 Handicap Hurdle 3m
The ground looks relatively desperate at Haydock today so a soft ground horse of course comes into play and maybe the key variable in backing a winner today. In this race I like the look of MISTER MARKER In its last run in the Scottish borders national over a 4m trip he seemed to relish the conditions and is an out and out stayer.MISTER MARKER is back over the smaller obstacles today and as I don't believe that to be a problem on ground which will suit, has a great chance at an each way price with the handicapper out of sight, I believe he will take advantage of a lenient handicap mark.
3.30 Peter Marsh Chase 3m
An exciting race in prospect, to win this the horse must be resolute, resilient and travel in soft ground. Consequently, I'm finding it very hard not to back MON MONE, the 2009 grand national winner showed a very positive display last time out at Cheltenham, MON MONE was staying on in the finish an it was great to see this old timer putting in such a fine round of jumping. Venetia Williams has had an excellent recent run and I can see MON MONE take this at an each way price.
Before I begin to preview my tips for Saturday, I'd like to mention the tremendous performance that Hey Big Spender displayed in a weight defying performance which showed just what a classy stayer this Colin Tizzard trained thoroughbred is. Not to mention Mike's horse talk picked him out!
On with the card...
Ascot
1.00pm 2m 3f Novices Handicap Chase
The ground could be on the soft side and that is important depending on how much rain falls between now and Saturday so a look at the forecast has already been researched and I'm certain softer side of good is to be expected. OLDRIK sticks out here has ran two blinding runs in as many starts winning on both occasions and looks the type to keep this excellent run going. OLDRIK will go well on the ground and is a solid jumper, Philip Hobbs is also in great form particularly in the last two weeks.
2.05 3m Mares Hurdle
Tricky, trappy and a conundrum which conversely lends itself to being a very interesting betting proposition as the bookies may get this wrong when pricing up these classy females. I'm siding with KENTFORD GREY LADY. This horse has had the better of Violin Davis and Cloudy Spirit and seems to have an excellent level of fitness for the longer trip as she showed at Kempton last time out and in doing so illustrated her ability to stay on in the finish coupled with classy jumping leaves me with no doubt that a good run is expected.
2.35 Hollywells Handicap Hurdle 2m 3f
Alan King is having a very positive season in which his juveniles look positively explosive and SMAD PLACE looks to have the class over most of these. Last season this horse set a very good standard running well in all his races bar his last start which may have been a bridge to far in the Triumph Hurdle. The horses that went to post that day were the likes of Grandouet,Zarkandar and the classy Unaccompanied all who have rubber stamped the form lines since. SMAD PLACE will enjoy most types of ground and it looks like Alan King will be a familiar face in the winners enclosure once again.
3.10 Victor Chandler Chase 2m 1f
Henrietta Knight has put some money in my pocket this season and I'm counting on the astute trainer to deliver again. I read earlier this week that the classy SOMERSBY has been working tremendously at home and that at a present 6/1 could be the bet of the day. The reasons are as follows SOMERSBY travels well in races over 2m to 3 miles, the horse has ran against the best Kauto Star, Master Minded amongst others, ran a blinder in this race 12 months ago. The horse is a solid, solid animal and with Dominic Elsworth in the saddle who won beautifully on Calgary Bay at Cheltenham New Years Day I can see a huge performance on the cards. This old timer will beat the young pretenders. Al Ferof didn't impress me at Sandown last time and looked like he can be beaten after an all out ride from Ruby only just helped him to hold on. Finians Rainbows jumping is more than questionable particularly at Kempton and Aintree the time before that and I do think that puts pain to his chances. SOMERSBY ticks all the right boxes for a trainer I admire greatly.
3.45 Handicap Chase 2m 5f
Another excellent renewal of this race in which the 2011 winner Tatanen won in tremendous fashion by 16 lengths a year ago can that horse who lines up again do it in 2012? The answer to that question is a big fat NO. I believe that ZAYNAR will certainly be hard to beat and may well be the obvious choice. ZAYNAR comes here on the back of an excellent victory in his last run at this track and looks to have the stamina over this longer trip and will probably try and make all the running. However, I'm tipping two here as the weights may indeed play a part so my other choice is a consistent type who has had some of his form franked recently and the horse I'm talking about is HECTORS CHOICE this horse is in excellent condition and ran superb when losing narrowly to Calgary Bay his jumping that day was very consistent and this trip seems to be perfect for him, has a nice each way chance.
Haydock Park
As it's now confirmed that racing will go ahead I've put a few more selections up on a very good card, remember the ground is desperate!
2.20 Handicap Hurdle 3m
The ground looks relatively desperate at Haydock today so a soft ground horse of course comes into play and maybe the key variable in backing a winner today. In this race I like the look of MISTER MARKER In its last run in the Scottish borders national over a 4m trip he seemed to relish the conditions and is an out and out stayer.MISTER MARKER is back over the smaller obstacles today and as I don't believe that to be a problem on ground which will suit, has a great chance at an each way price with the handicapper out of sight, I believe he will take advantage of a lenient handicap mark.
3.30 Peter Marsh Chase 3m
An exciting race in prospect, to win this the horse must be resolute, resilient and travel in soft ground. Consequently, I'm finding it very hard not to back MON MONE, the 2009 grand national winner showed a very positive display last time out at Cheltenham, MON MONE was staying on in the finish an it was great to see this old timer putting in such a fine round of jumping. Venetia Williams has had an excellent recent run and I can see MON MONE take this at an each way price.
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