The horse racing broadcaster offers up his five best bets from this weekend's racing in the UK, including one in the lucrative Morebattle Hurdle.
With all the Cheltenham hype going on at present, it may come as a surprising fact that the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso on Saturday has a more valuable prize pot at £120k than any of the Festival handicap hurdles. Couple that with the chance to win the £100k bonus if Morebattle success is followed by a win in any Festival race just over a week later, and it still does not get the appreciation the race deserves.
The Shunter in 2021 is the only horse so far to complete that double, so initially in ante‑post lists bookmakers took no chances with Charles Byrnes’ entry I Started A Joke. However, his non‑declaration leaves the way clear for CRACKING RHAPSODY 11/2 (14:55 Kelso) to win the race for a third time. He reserves his best for Kelso and Ayr, and it was his victory last season in the Scottish Champion Hurdle that makes a persuasive case for him still being reasonably treated off a mark of 136 on Saturday. Having won the Morebattle off 132, he lined up at Ayr off a mark of 137 where he beat no less a horse than Kabral Du Mathan, with Breeders’ Cup and Ebor winner Ethical Diamond in the ruck. Four horses won next time out from that race, and the form is strong enough to show he is still competitive back at his beloved Kelso, where his form figures read 621111.
Earlier on the card, BREIZH RIVER 11/2 (13:10 Kelso) can continue his resurgence in the first of 10 ITV races. A course‑and‑distance winner off as high as 131 in October 2024, his form dipped significantly, resulting in him being rated just 117 over fences when he moved to Tristan Davidson earlier this season. After a pipe‑opener over hurdles, Breizh River placed at Newcastle before winning at Musselburgh, where the application of a tongue‑tie for the first time may also have helped. It would be helpful if the ground could dry out a little more, but, in the spirit of his owners Border Caravans Ltd, hopefully they can all stay stuck behind him!
There is also £80k up for grabs in the Premier Hurdle, where LORD BYRON 8/1 (14:15 Kelso) looks the play. It looked as if he might have been lined up for a tilt at the Fred Winter, but the stable has a bigger player there in Winston Junior, and Lord Byron comes here for his third run—too late to qualify for the Fred Winter but with an eye on an equally valuable prize. Twice raced for Aidan O’Brien on the flat, he has run well on both hurdling starts behind Klycot and, last time, behind leading Triumph Hurdle hope Maestro Conti at Cheltenham. The fifth horse that day, La Luna Artista, franked the form when winning the Adonis, and the stable remains in good form.
It is Grimthorpe day at Doncaster, where it might be worth an each‑way investment on dual winner MORODER (EW) 16/1 (14:30 Doncaster). He is now rising 12, but his trainer Seamus Mullins recently ended a 56‑race losing run with a few others placed, and Moroder is off a 5 lb lower mark than when a shock winner of this race at 33/1 last year, having won it off an even higher mark back in 2023 at 18/1. Clearly this will have been his long‑term target, and, at a similarly big price, he is worth a speculative throw at the stumps.
Earlier at Doncaster, the step up to 3m should suit LIVINGONAPRAYER 15/2 (13:25 Doncaster) in the Listed Mares’ race and hopefully give Joe Anderson his biggest winner to date. Jamie Snowden is having an excellent season, already notching a campaign‑best 71 winners, with a maiden century a real possibility. He has plenty of success in Mares’ races (another debutant winner at Wetherby on Thursday), and the next four horses home behind her victory at Wincanton have all won since.
CHELTENHAM CORNER
The big news of the week was Constitution Hill not being asked to go back hurdling, with the main impact on the Champion Hurdle being a shortening of Lossiemouth in the belief that she is now more likely to take her chance here rather than in the Mares’. The main Cheltenham betting angle, however, could now be to top up the each‑way ante‑post bet on Take No Chances in the Mares’, as her price has not shortened but her chances of making the frame would clearly be much improved were Lossiemouth not to show up. She will be well suited by the switch of the race to the New Course, having placed in the race 12 months ago, and has been the subject of a couple of negative rides recently which have not shown her to best advantage.
