Steve Ryder Wednesday Racing Tips

The Donald McCain trained HART OF STEEL (best priced at 10/3) won this race last season and should hold strong claims despite racing this year off a 10lb higher mark. He has form figures of 312U at the track and comes into the race in form having won his latest start at Carlisle. 

Hart Of Steel defeated Kavanaghs Cross by a neck that day with the pair pulling a further six lengths clear of the third and the form of that run has been boosted by the runner-up finishing 3rd in a handicap hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend. The Donald McCain stable remains in good form and I expect him to prove hard to beat with Theo Gillard once again claiming 5lb.

Only four runners contest this novice chase and all would have a chance but preference goes to J'AI FROID (best priced at 7/4) on his chasing debut. The Laura Morgan trained eight-year-old showed fantastic form last season since the fitting of a visor with form figures of 11112 which meant he improved from a mark of 106 up to 147 over hurdles. 

That rating of 147 actually puts J’Ai Froid only 3lb behind previous Grade 2 winner Emitom on ratings over hurdles with that rival facing huge question marks on his second spell over fences. Doyen Breed has race fitness on his side but only has a rating of 130 over hurdles so should struggle off level weights and I expect J’Ai Froid to make a winning chasing debut in this race.

The presence of both Stepney Causeway and For Pleasure in this race should result in a strong pace for ELIXIR DE NUTZ (best priced at 7/2) to aim at and that should mean the seven-year-old is hard to beat on his second start over fences. The Colin Tizzard yard are in much better form this season and are currently operating at a 22% strike rate and that should mean this previous Grade 1 winning novice hurdler should be able to bounce back from a below-par couple of seasons.

Elixir De Nutz has only reached the racecourse three times since his win in the Tolworth Hurdle in January 2019 but one of those was when 2nd on his chasing debut (and only appearance last season) at Hereford behind Le Patriote. Edwardstone looks a worth favourite for this race given his form over hurdles but hasn’t had a nice experience on his two chasing starts so far and I expect Elixir De Nutz to beat him on his first start for 340 days.