Horse Racing tips: Rory Delargy’s best ITV Racing bets on Saturday

PP's Rory Delargy fancies Quinault to impress in the Challenge Cup at Ascot (15:35).

Rory Delargy 2023

By / Horse Racing Tips / 12 months ago

Rory Delargy’s Horse Racing Tips

13:30 Newmarket – Lady Alara
13:50 Ascot – Rage Of Bamby
14:05 Newmarket – Zoulu Chief
14:25 Ascot – Israr
15:00 Ascot – Annaf
15:15 Newmarket – Inspiral
15:35 Ascot – Quinault

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

13:30 Newmarket – Lady Alara

This is a very tricky contest at first glance, but there are reasons to expect further improvement from Lady Alara, and she gets the vote at a big price. It’s easy to conclude that the Charlie Hills-trained filly is exposed now, but she has been running at a mile, and her pedigree strongly suggests that she could improve for stepping up in trip, and she certainly shaped as if worth a try at ten furlongs when a rallying second to Shining Jewel over a mile here a fortnight ago.

Lady Alara made the running last time and then stayed on again after getting outpaced, hinting at hidden reserves of stamina, and being out of the Galileo mare Red Halo, that should be no surprise. Red Halo is a full-sister to the 1m5f winner Venezia (stayed 2¼m) and 1m 2-y-o winner Last Crusade (best form at 1½m), and she has already produced 1¼m-1½m winner Haunted Dream (Oasis Dream) and 1¼m-1¾m Flat winner and high-class hurdler Redicean (Medicean).

There are no reasons to think Lady Alara shouldn’t stay 1¼m on either pedigree or running style, and I believe that the longer trip will allow her to progress again, and if correct, she looks to represent value in the market.

13:50 Ascot – Rage Of Bamby

Rage Of Bamby is the marginal call in what looks a very tough opener at Ascot. Although proven over 7f last season, Eve Johnson Houghton’s filly ran much her best race when second in a 5f handicap at York in August, a neck behind Designer, who she now meets on 8lb better terms. She ran creditably behind Commanche Falls when upped to 6f there next time, but didn’t finish her race off so well, and looks like she will benefit from a return to the shorter trip at a stiff track like Ascot.

14:05 Newmarket – Zoulu Chief

It’s impossible to get away from the exciting Zoulu Chief here and despite the big field, he is expected to dominate from the outset. A three-time winner already this season, he was especially impressive when winning a competitive York nursery last time, and that race has worked out remarkably well, with six of those behind him winning next time, including runner-up Starlust, who landed the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton, while third home Room Service won the Weatherby’s Scientific £300,000 2-y-o Stakes at Doncaster.

Given how the York form has been franked, Zoulu Chief looks fairly treated off a mark of 97, and he would be conceding a minimum of 10lb if this were a handicap. As it is he merely has to give 5lb to Woodhay Wonder, who is his main danger on form, and while that colt impressed in winning the Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes here in August, the clock suggests he will need to improve again to beat Heather Main’s progressive and likeable juvenile.

14:25 Ascot – Israr

Jim Crowley chooses Al Aasy of the Shadwell pair here which is not surprising after the pair missed out narrowly at Leopardstown last time, but that means that the odds about Israr are a bit better than I’d envisaged, and I’m happy to forgive a muddling run in the September Stakes last time, which was the four-year-old’s first outing since an impressive win in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.

That defeat of Adayar didn’t earn many plaudits with the focus on the runner-up’s defeat rather than the winner, but despite the small field, Israr won in a good time at Newmarket and probably ran to a higher level than many gave him credit for. That effort came on the back of a good second to Quickthorn in the Grand Cup at York, which also looks much better in retrospect given what the winner did at Goodwood on his next start. Despite carrying a Group 2 penalty, Israr arrives under the radar for the Cumberland Lodge, and unlike most, he will appreciate the quickening ground.

15:00 Ascot – Annaf

There are plenty to consider in the Hackwood Stakes, but the horse with most pressing claims on recent evidence is arguably Annaf, who has taken quite a while to click on turf, but ran a cracker when third in the King’s Stand here in June, and finally got his first success on the green stuff when beating Significantly in the Portland at Doncaster under a big weight. The runner-up boosted the form by taking the Ayr Gold Cup next time, and would have won that race with much more ease but for being squeezed out between runners inside the final furlong.

Annaf was conceding 12lb to Significantly at Doncaster, and that effort is certainly up to Group 3 standard, so I’d expect Mick Appleby’s charge to run a big race here, with the track clearly suiting him and the ground no issue. He’s as effective at 6f as he is at shorter and should have no excuses from what looks a favourable draw.

15:15 Newmarket – Inspiral

There isn’t a great deal to choose between Inspiral and Mqse de Sevigne on ratings, but the latter has shown her best form over further, and with the ground putting emphasis on speed, the Gosden filly is expected to have the upper hand. Inspiral can disappoint, but has done so when the going has been softer and her record on good or faster ground reads 11112121. She hated heavy ground when well held in the Sussex Stakes, but looked as good as ever when beating Big Rock in the Jacques Le Marois last time, and a repeat should be enough.

15:35 Ascot – Quinault

The Challenge Cup is complicated by the fact that my initial fancy, Hickory, was also declared to run on Friday but James Fanshawe has seen since and taken him out of that classified contest to given him another crack at Quinault here; the pair are drawn to dominate on the far side of the track, with the latter sure to make the running as he did when winning here last month, and Hickory should be perfectly poised in the next door stall to lay down the main chase.

I didn’t think Quinault would stay Ascot’s stiff seven given the speed he’s shown at shorter, but he proved me wrong when making all here four weeks ago, and the only time he’s been unable to follow up this season was when his usual apprentice was replaced by a senior jockey. That said, he’s now 5lb worse off with Hickory, who has improved with a visor fitted on his last two starts, and Fanshawe’s five-year-old will benefit from having a strong pace to chase.

Rory Delargy’s Horse Racing Tips

13:30 Newmarket – Lady Alara
13:50 Ascot – Rage Of Bamby
14:05 Newmarket – Zoulu Chief
14:25 Ascot – Israr
15:00 Ascot – Annaf
15:15 Newmarket – Inspiral
15:35 Ascot – Quinault

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

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