On the final weekend before the Cheltenham Festival, the horse racing broadcaster offers up his best bets for Saturday's UK racing.
Whilst Cheltenham may be just around the corner, there is also a reminder on Saturday that the Lincoln is only three weeks away, with ITV3 (note the unusual channel) showing seven-race coverage split between Sandown’s Imperial Cup card and Wolverhampton’s flat card featuring the Lincoln Trial.
At Sandown, there is the usual big field for the valuable EBF Final where Scorpio Rising will no doubt have plenty of supporters with his progressive form. He is definitely a big player, but WOLF WALKER / (13:50 Sandown), from the far less well-known yard of Clive Boultbee-Brooks, looks a very interesting contender. He has an unusual profile in that he ran in six point-to-points, winning three at Larkhill, and actually made his Rules debut over 3m 2f at Cheltenham’s Hunter Chase evening. Runs over hurdles at 2m looked as if they were setting a platform for an immediate switch to handicap chases via the loophole that enables a hurdles mark to be carried straight over fences, but instead the extra run was used to qualify for this race, where he also steps up in trip. His performances at 2 miles have been surprisingly competitive and include a second to Morebattle Hurdle winner Captain Hugo (who won that off 129), so a mark of 117, given his 2½‑length beating in receipt of 6lb, looks reasonable even before stepping up in trip. However he fares on Saturday, expect a switch to chasing soon, but this could provide a valuable payday en route.
There is little doubt that, whilst others target the Festival, connections of GO DANTE / (14:27 Sandown) very much have the Imperial Cup in their sights every year. Go Dante loves a slog up the Sandown hill and will be seeking a third consecutive win in the race. His task has been made a little harder by his win here earlier in the season nudging his mark up, but connections have clearly tried hard to get him back down, running him in races where his stamina would not come into play and, on the last occasion, removing the cheekpieces. They are back on here and, even though the ground is not as deep as it can be, he just comes into his own when faced with that climb to the line.
Finally at Sandown, the lightly raced CALIMYSTIC / (15:35 Sandown) looks hard to oppose in the handicap chase. He travelled really well on his seasonal return when winning at Newbury and, even though it got a bit frantic late on, he would be entitled to progress for the run. A rise of only 4lb looks fair given the race produced three next‑time‑out winners, and the better ground on the chase course will suit as well.
Over at Wolverhampton, KINGDOM COME / (14:42 Wolverhampton) placed in last year’s Lincoln Trial off a mark of 103 and lines up here off 4lb lower despite winning last time at Kempton. He will need some luck in the run up the straight, but until that point he is nicely berthed in stall 2 to avoid covering extra ground. Hopefully he will have sufficient pace to run at with his hold-up style.
In the Listed Lady Wulfruna, I expect Cool Hand Luke to try and make all from his wide gate, but he could just set it up for PRINCE OF INDIA / (15:15 Wolverhampton), who has not been seen since getting no run in the Group 3 Bengough Stakes at Ascot in October. He improved out of all recognition last season, and Marco Botti’s horses have been in very good form over the last week or so. He showed in the Garrowby at York that he can make an impact at Listed level, and going round a bend means 7f rather than 6f should also be a help.
Finally, a reminder that there will be daily blogs on the Cheltenham Festival next week.
