Paul Jacobs’ Sunday Horse Racing tips
14:05 Thurles – Classic Getaway
14:30 Windsor – In Excelsis Deo
15:20 Fakenham – Getbazoutofhere
15:40 Windsor – Zertakt
*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.
14:05 Thurles – Classic Getaway
When you look at the roll call of winners for this Grade Two event, formerly the Kinloch Brae, this year’s field hardly measures up to Native Upmanship, Allaho (both three-time winners) and Don Cossack (two-time winner). However, this year’s field is much bigger than usual and more competitive.
The makeup of the race is full of has-beens, what-might-have-beens, and still waiting to take off runners. I have followed Appreciate It from here to eternity and still haven’t been able to get a hand on him. Just when I think I understand his run style and level, he performs inexcusably poorly when the stars had looked set to align.
At 11, his chance may have gone to win even a Grade Two. Similar remarks apply to that fine stamp of a horse, Kilcruit. I fancy Mr Mullins still feels he has a nice prize in him judged by the fact that he has persevered with him, but his career may too have run its course.
There was nothing wrong with the recent Ascot run of Fil D’Or. But he has been underwhelming since his second in the 2022 Triumph Hurdle and with a good ground set to greet this year’s field, Paul Townend could well have picked the right one here among the Closutton battalion in CLASSIC GETAWAY.
On my private ratings, I have 3lbs between the top six here, but this youngster remains a work in progress after just the five chase starts. His runs against Spillane’s Tower show how good he could become. It is worth remembering that he was coughing after his last start in May.
However, this is his first start since then, so he could possibly need this run.
French Dynamite and Visionarion are closely matched up on their Down Royal run. But Danny Mullins and his nine-year-old partner could be the answer following a fair run behind Embassy Gardens when he looked in need of the run.
That effort in the New Year’s Day Chase should have brought him to a peak, and with few miles on the clock, the son of Getway can take another step forward here with the likelihood of an end-to-end gallop, which will bring his stamina into play.
14:30 Windsor – In Excelsis Deo
I had this down to two and may back both of them if I can get the prices I want. I thought that Deep Cave was a huge eye-catcher at Cheltenham last time out.
Hardly suited by the stop-start pace that day that slowed down dramatically from halfway around the final circuit, the seven-year-old was predictably outpaced as the field free-wheeled down the far side of the track, only to pick up well through the final furlong and a half as they met the famous final climb.
I make him a 4/5lbs better horse than that and being dropped a pound in the handicap, he has to be a player here if they go a better gallop.
But the value call could well be Harry Fry’s entry IN EXCELSIS DEO now that he has returned to hurdles off what looks a very attractive mark. A winner off 137 in the Silver Trophy Chase at Cheltenham last back end, he has since run two flat races over fences this year, jumping with little fluency.
Set to run off just 134 here. He could relish this step up to three miles for the first time in his career on his first run over hurdles in the UK.
15:20 Fakenham – Getbazoutofhere
This is a valuable mares final and with three course and distance winners in the field of 11, it looks like a tricky race to dissect. One of those, Gazette Bourgeoise, hosed up here last time out, but the race kind of fell apart around her and her fencing is not always trustworthy.
Telepathique soundly beat the latter here at the back end of October but is now 25 lbs higher in the weights and is now 19lbs worse off for that 11-length win over her rival.
So, both will have to take another significant step forward to land this nice prize, which is why Tom Gretton’s runner, GETBAZOUTOFHERE, is of huge interest here.
At least four players in this field love to go forward, so even on the drying ground, this will be a relative test that should suit the selection.
She ran a cracker behind Game On For Glory last time out at Cheltenham and with Sean Bowen booked off a 1lb higher mark, he can take into the race slowly as hopefully the pace collapses up top.
15:40 Windsor – Zertakt
It has been a while since Venetia Williams’ was mopping up the big Saturday races in the autumn of 2024, but her string still remain in fair form (one win from 13, but several hitting the woodwork).
But her representative here, ZERTAKT, has been crying out for this kind of test of stamina and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him very well backed beforehand. A winner of three of his six starts in France, where stamina appeared to be his strong suit, his first two runs in the UK looked average, to say the least.
However, since a 269-day break, he has shown plenty of promise with staying on runs here at Windsor and Newbury over two and three-quarter miles. On that last run, he was always prominent and was merely outpaced down the final home stretch.
His efficient jumping was a feature of that run, which will stand him in good stead around this rhythm track. Of his rivals, Minella Blueway strikes me as a player after his keeping on second behind Ballycamus here last month.
Paul Jacobs’ Sunday Horse Racing tips
12:55 Naas – Hurricane Cliff
13:25 Naas – Firefox
14:20 Chepstow – Jeffrey’s Cross
14:05 Plumpton – Cloud Dancer
14:40 Plumpton – Minella Blueway
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at the time of publishing but subject to change.
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