Paul Jacobs’ Sunday Horse Racing Tips
14:00 Doncaster– The Newest One
15:52 Huntingdon – Dibble Decker
16:02 Leopardstown – Tyre Kicker
16:37 Leopardstown – Brandt
*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.
14:00 Doncaster– The Newest One
The advent of these Veteran Chases has been brilliant to watch and gives older horses a new lease of life, and for us punters, well we know all about the form of these stayers down the years. The conundrum for us is to link how far they have regressed, talent wise, and then try and link it, in most cases, to their diminishing handicap marks.
You could make a realistic argument that one of the outsiders here, Dr Kananga is the best treated in the line-up, having been rated 135 under two years ago, and now set to race off a mere mark of 113. However, his recent form has been moderate to say the least and he needs a massive spark to win here.
But the key to this race could be the return to good ground for many of these old boys and that should suit the Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge THE NEWEST ONE who started his season off with a strong staying success in a similar race at Cheltenham in autumn off a mark of 117 and then a second off 122 and was then fifth to King Turgoen in a much better race off 131. Two runs since, on tougher ground, have produced form figures of 3-145 PP, but as a consequence his rating has fallen back down to 120 and his chance is there for all to see.
15:52 Huntingdon – Dibble Decker
Dan Skelton is chasing the better prizes on every single day of the season with gusto, in his pursuit of a very first Trainer’s Championship, so even this feature race of the afternoon at the Cambridgeshire track – with just £15k up for grabs to the winner – will be of interest and he has three of the seven runners entered up with the least inspiring form figures of Sail Away probably his best chance of success. This step back down to two and a half miles will be hugely in his favour, after he simply didn’t get home over three miles at Doncaster last time out, and he is now 4lbs below his last winning mark which came at the Scottish National meeting back in April 2023.
The other plus for him is that there will be a load of pace here, which for both himself and Hidden Heroics, both essentially hold-up horses, is a huge help.
DIBBLE DECKER was beaten a neck by another of today’s runners, Lounge Lizard, in this very race 12 months ago, but I think we can mark him up on that run as he made two horrendous errors on the way around. The duo will race off the same terms here, and it is the bottom weight that gets the call to land his fourth chasing win, on his 11th start over larger obstacles.
16:02 Leopardstown – Tyre Kicker
Like many of the handicap races on the Dublin card there seems to be loads of pace on and this Listed handicap chase over an intermediate trip of two and three quarter miles slips into that category.
That kind of set-up looks sure to suit the strong travelling bridle boy James Du Berlais. Carrying the weight has never been a problem for this robust gelding, but he is a tricky ride as he has to be produced as late as possibly under a cute rider. The key example was his run in last year’s Topham Trophy at Aintree when he looked to be hacking, but once push came to shove on the long run in, he found decidedly little under Daryl Jacob and was worried out of it by the strong finishing Arizona Cardinal. He has run as if he has just needed his opening two encounters this season, but as a result he drops from 155 to 151, the same rating he ran off at Aintree. Monbeg Park, Adamantly Chosen and Union Park oppose him again after finishing ahead of the top weight here at the DRF.
But still the percentage call is to oppose this classy performer and the one to go with for me is Gavin Cromwell’s charge TYRE KICKER. He is three from eight over fences and was far from disgraced when following a bad mistake at the first fence, he finished his race nicely, as a three and a half length second of 14 behind Hasthing a Windsor winner who has since gone on to run a fine race at Ascot.
16:37 Leopardstown – Brandt
Going up significantly in trip, Union Station is a fascinating runner for Gavin Cromwell. Still a maiden under rules, but only after seven outings, he is bred to stay well and if there is money in the market for this son of Leading Light, he could be worth a saver against mainly exposed rivals in this stamina test.
One Horse Army has finally worked out how to jump properly with back to back wins off 80 and 90 (now runs off 99), but that latest rise in the ratings makes him much worse off at the weights, with BRANDT looking guaranteed to run his race here under the promising 5lbs conditional jockey Tiernan Power Roche. All this son of Affinisea does is gallop and gallop and I suspect he will once again be held off the pace before sneaking forward on the long stretch of fences down the back straight for the final time. If this race turns into a last man standing event, he could finally land his second chase success, his first since outstaying his rivals last August.
Sunday Racing Tips
14:00 Doncaster– The Newest One
15:52 Huntingdon – Dibble Decker
16:02 Leopardstown – Tyre Kicker
16:37 Leopardstown – Brandt
*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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