Saturday’s ITV racing tips
13.15 Cheltenham – Haddex Des Obeaux
13.50 Cheltenham – Blueking DOroux
14:10 Doncaster – Diego Velazquez
14.25 Cheltenham- Undersupervision / Lord Accord
15.00 Cheltenham – Bugs Moran
14:45 Doncaster – Esquire
*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.
13.15 Cheltenham – Haddex Des Obeaux
I’ve always been a fan of HADDEX DES OBEAUX and he travels really well and jumps brilliantly which you need around this course and 2m trip. His last run at Warwick in January, saw him beat some very useful opponents and he went from the front, didn’t miss a beat, pinged the fences and had them all off the bridle before they’d turned for home.
He ticks every box for me, speed, jumping, travels well, ground versatile and stays well at the trip. He’s been off a while but if ready should go close. He’s only a six year old and is now rated 146 but on what the opponents he beat have shown since, he could be still be well in off that mark. Galop de Chasse fell into second that day at Warwick and came out and won his next race, then placed twice afterwards.
13.50 Cheltenham – Blueking D’oroux
On paper there can only be one winner here. BLUEKING DOROUX arrived at Paul Nicholls yard from France so might have just needed time to settle in but shocked connections when winning at 50/1 beating his stable mate Afadil at Ascot. A brilliant run at Aintree followed against older horses. Although he got the allowances that day, it was still a tremendous effort.
Nicholls has his squad ready to fire and all bar Punta Del Este are running with 11 stone so it’ll take a massive shock to get him beaten here.
14:10 Doncaster – Diego Velazquez
Aidan O’Brien has won this race in four of the last six years – all with his first string runner. Definitely a bit of a negative that Ryan Moore isn’t on board just because it would be more consistent and less of a change of circumstances.
You need a proper three-year-old for this type of race. It’s a tough 7f on heavy ground and the flashy types capture our attention in this race when they maybe shouldn’t.
DIEGO VELAZQUEZ wasn’t overly impressive when winning last time with Capulet finishing a close second, but they were well clear of the third and fourth Atlantic Coast and Deepone who have gone on to win a Group 3 and Group 2 respectively. That’s a huge form boost.
Auguste Rodin was a massive drifter when winning last year ( 6/4 – 9/4) and Diego Velazquez may do the same. However, with the season Aidan O’Brien has had with his juveniles and his record in this race along with the Leopardstown form being franked, it’s hard to look elsewhere.
He is also unexposed compared to others and has the most scope to improve.
14.25 Cheltenham – Undersupervision / Lord Accord
UNDERSUPERVISION makes his seasonal debut and the Nigel Twiston-Davies yard have them ready to go first time out this season. The seven-year-old usually thrives at this time anyway, so the lay-off isn’t much of a concern. He finished a neck second in the Grimthrope at Doncaster on his last start behind Moroder (who then was second to Kitty’s Light in the 365 Gold Cup) at Sandown so that was a decent form boost.
Lord Accord was last year’s winner off only 1lb lower. He got a spin over hurdles last year around Worcester before winning this race and he’s had the same prep again with a spin over hurdles at Warwick. He usually does the business before Christmas and then flies up the handicap before his form tails off before he comes good again in the Autumn.
It’s hard to pick winners at the start of the season and I’d prefer to side with runners who you know target races like these rather than those making their seasonal reappearance with the future in mind.
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14:45 Doncaster – Esquire
David O’Meara wouldn’t have a huge amount of first time out winners but probably wouldn’t have a lot of horses bred as well as ESQUIRE. He backed up a good opening win with a second to Purosangue who is a decent horse and has been a player in big two-year-old races this season.
The finishing speed of that race was 97 per cent and the two leaders were prominent all the way, so you can upgrade that run for both. Esquire stays at the same level of opposition here.
Ballymount Boy is top rated but a lot more exposed and if Esquire can improve only slightly, he should take a lot of beating.
15.00 Cheltenham – Bugs Moran
Bashful Boy is an interesting one but seems to be better on the Flat rather then over jumps. BUGS MORAN has really good back form but had been off for over a year before coming back this summer and has run two cracking races since that layoff.
He was second to Ambitious Fella in a Listed Hurdle at Galway and also second to Gold Speed at Listowel, when favourite.
He had a mark of 130 in Ireland for that but runs off 136 now which looks fine. He’s only had eight runs over hurdles and has plenty of scope to improve. Those Irish summer handicap races read a lot better than people give them credit for and he could catch out a lot of the English horses here.
ITV Racing Tips Today
13.15 Cheltenham – Haddex Des Obeaux
13.50 Cheltenham – Blueking DOroux
14:10 Doncaster – Diego Velazquez
14.25 Cheltenham- Undersupervision
15.00 Cheltenham – Bugs Moran
14:45 Doncaster – Esquire
*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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