We have another super Saturday of jumps racing action to look forward to this weekend, as the ITV team heads to Kempton Park and Warwick for a total of seven cracking contests. There’s plenty of quality in the mix, with a trio of Grade 2 events including an intriguing renewal of the Silviniaco Conti Chase from Kempton. The Surrey track also plays host to the day’s major betting heat, with a decent field expected for the always-competitive Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle.
As usual, then, there is plenty for us punters to get stuck into. Read on as we pick out our best bets in each of the seven races in this week’s Saturday Racing Tips and try to give those bookies the bashing they deserve!
1:30 Coral Racing Club Handicap Chase
Class 2, 3m
The 3m chasers get the action underway, with a small but competitive field of seven set to go to post. Tile Tapper currently heads the betting having finished second over this course and distance last time out but is 1lb higher in the handicap despite not winning. Enrilo looks solid to go well but may prefer slightly quicker ground and lumping 12st to victory in the mud looks a tall order indeed.
Annsam is more interesting having initially been aimed at the Lanzarote Hurdle later in the day, but overall we just prefer a punt on last year’s runner-up, Smarty Wild. This one has made the frame in two out of three outings over this course and distance. With each of those placed efforts coming on soft ground he looks a solid price here and can be backed on the nose. But for a shoddy jump at the last, he may well have won this in 2022 and can hopefully go close to making amends for his trainer, Philip Hobbs, who has won this twice in the past nine years.
1:50 eventmasters.co.uk Hampton Novices’ Chase
Grade 2, 3m
The ground is expected to be even worse at Warwick, which could turn this 3m affair into a real slog. Disappointingly we have just the four confirmed runners at this stage, with The Goffer being an interesting contender from the Gordon Elliott operation. The son of Yeats has shown plenty of promise but hasn’t looked to be crying out for this trip in his efforts to date. Dan Skelton’s Galia Des Liteaux will like the ground, but was beaten in a Listed event over this trip last season, and may just be biting off more than she can chew with the market leader.
It’s the jolly for us here, with the Paul Nicholls-trained Complete Unknown looking a horse on the up. Significantly, all three of this one’s career successes have come on soft or worse going, with the most recent of those coming at Ffos Las last time out. Having won each of the past two editions of this, Nicholls knows the type needed to succeed and is taken to make it three in a row.
2:05 Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase
Grade 2, 2m4½f
Easily the most intriguing runner in this field is Angels Breath. Twice a winner in Grade 2 company and a perfect 2 from 2 over fences, he also handles soft ground well. On the downside, he has been forced to recover from a severed tendon since last seen at the track a whopping 1,121 days ago, and has since left the yard of Nicky Henderson to join the Sam Thomas operation. It would be great to see a positive comeback effort, but he looks very risky from a betting perspective.
Paul Nicholls’ Pic D’Orhy takes up much of the betting market but seems better on quicker ground than he is likely to experience here. Paint The Dream and the old boy Coole Cody look likely to run well, but it is the second of the Nicholls runners, Saint Calvados, who just gets the vote.
Two previous starts at Kempton have yielded fourth and third-place finishes in the King George, whilst his best efforts at this trip include a neck second to Min in the 2020 Ryanair. Blowing his chance when way too keen in a two-runner affair last time out, he should get some cover here and looks worth chancing in the first-time tongue tie.
2:25 Ballymore Leamington Novices’ Hurdle
Grade 2, 2m5f
This looks to have the potential to be one of the races of the day, with all seven runners arriving on the back of a win last time out. The four-timer seeking Knowsley Road from the yard of Paul Nicholls merits plenty of respect, whilst Snake Roll and Moon Hunter also look interesting at bigger prices.
The one for us though is the only course and distance winner in the field, Tom Lacy’s Ginny’s Destiny. In need of the run on his first outing at Aintree, the seven-year-old took a huge step forward when scooting clear to score by 8½l here last time out. With the runner-up Mexico having since gone on to score by nine lengths, the form looks solid.
2:40 Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle
Class 2, 2m5f
The feature race of the day provides a 20-runner handicap puzzle for punters to solve. The Paul Nicholls-trained Outlaw Peter and Irish raider Green Glory are currently vying for favouritism at around the 5/1 mark and boast obvious claims.
Outlaw Peter was reportedly almost targeted at the Grade 2 Challow Hurdle, and if anywhere near that level could make a mark of 130 look very lenient. Green Glory meanwhile has the look of a Charles Byrnes handicap plot having won pretty easily last time out at Leopardstown. We just prefer Outlaw Peter of the two, but the fact that all of his best form has come on quicker ground than this puts us off at what is a pretty short price in a contest such as this.
One horse who should relish the going is the Gary Moore-trained, Fifty Ball, who makes his seasonal return here. This one boasts form figures of 221 in hurdle events on soft or worse ground and is only 3lbs higher than when scoring over this trip at Ascot back in March. That rating of 130 does still put him 5lb below his career-high mark, so there may be room to manoeuvre with the useful Niall Houlihan taking off 3lb. At 28/1 he looks very much worth an each-way bet, with several firms paying out on the first five places making that even more appealing.
3:00 Wigley Group Classic Handicap Chase
Premier Handicap, 3m5f
We stick to competitive handicapping action for the penultimate contest on the TV card, this time over a marathon trip of 3m5f. As with action all over the country right now, that will be set to be made all the more arduous by the forecast heavy going. Willie Mullins sends over Mr Incredible, and the seven-year-old has predictably made his way to the head of the market. Runners from such a powerful yard are always to be feared, but at the prices, we are happy to take on a horse who is yet to win at beyond 2m3f.
2021 winner Notachance makes the shortlist and certainly does have a chance, getting in off a 9lb lower mark this time around, as does Guetapan Collonges who looks potentially better than a mark of 126. However, under these conditions, the most solid each-way option may be confirmed mudlark, Lord Du Mesnil. Twice a winner on heavy, and a dual scorer over just shy of this trip, he returned from a break with a solid second at Bangor and should be primed for a bold bid.
3:35 Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle
Class 2, 3m1f
A qualifying contest for one of the major handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival rounds out the day’s action, with a host of familiar names on show. Sire Du Berlais would be the one to beat if at his peak but rarely reaches that peak until the spring. The talented On The Blindside meanwhile has questions to answer having failed to complete two of his past three starts.
Overall, we fancy it may be best to keep this simple and side with the in-form mare, Glimpse Of Gala. Charlie Longsdon’s seven-year-old is yet to finish outside the first three in four starts this season and got her nose in front when scoring by four lengths in a soft ground contest over this trip at Kempton last time out. That was a second success from three attempts under these conditions and she looks fairly priced to at least hit the frame.