Warwick Racing Tips: 58/1 Treble for the Autumn Meeting

The first race on the card is the racingtv.com Mares' 'NH' Novices' Hurdle in which LITTLE MISS DANTE (best price 13/8) is fancied to translate her smart bumper form over to this sphere by making a successful hurdles debut.

Olly Murphy is going through a good spell with plenty of recent winners and this well-built daughter of Kayf Tara confirmed the promise of her half-a-length debut second at Huntingdon by easily going one better at Southwell last time.

She travelled transparently well throughout the contest before booting clear to score by over eight lengths without breaking sweat in which her rivals had no answer to the burst of acceleration she displayed.

Fortune Forever might emerge as the biggest danger but the former has the right profile head into a race like this and has an excellent opportunity to get favourite backers off to the perfect start.

Later on, in the Save Business Rates With Colliers Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, I am quite keen on the chances of the Dan Skelton-trained QUID PRO QUO (best price 4/1). After a couple of facile victories, the seven-year-old was then highly tried over hurdles towards the end of last year in which he contested a pair of Grade 2 events at Chepstow and Cheltenham.

He didn’t perform to his best in each of those and his chasing career got off to the worst start when pulled up in his first two races but there’s no doubt he has strengthened since and, after winning at Southwell, he has not been out of the frame in four starts. He returned a beaten favourite last time when a distant second but the step up to three miles backfired and he is back over his favoured trip here.

His record over two miles four furlongs reads 1223 and in that third place finish, he split two next-time-out winners in Any News (second and won off 124 since) and Pull Again Green (fourth won off 125 since). He is on the same mark for this contest and is only a pound higher than when he filled the runner up spot in the Clarke Chase at Uttoxeter, which internally, was a much stronger race.

I have a strong incline this course winner is just a better horse than Valentino Dancer judged on the comparison of form between the two and while the top-weight Hometown Boy is interesting on his chase debut after winning a Grade 3 at the Grand National Meeting over two years ago, conceding so much weight to a race-fit, well-handicapped horse on his reappearance might prove impossible.

In addition, the Skelton’s inmate has been applied with wind surgery since he was last seen as well, which could bring about further improvement. He should get a nice pace to aim at and while he has a bit of a habit of taking the route of a fence or two, he’s naturally a smooth-traveller who generally jumps well. He is likely to be given a patient-stalking ride by Harry Skelton and should go well with plenty in his favour. 

To complete the treble, I am sticking with the Skelton’s in the Join Racing TV Now Handicap Chase as chase debutant RISKINTHEGROUND (best price 7/2) looks as though he has been let in lightly off a mark of 115 and can hopefully make a mockery of that.

The six-year-old only has just the one win to his name but his two placed efforts behind the 130-rated Hullnback in both a bumper and hurdle race last year has a nice reading to it when put in some context.  

In the races he hasn’t won over hurdles as well, he has shaped much better than the beaten margins and positions have indicated, including at Cheltenham and Ludlow early last year.

He did, however, manage to beat Way Out very comfortably at Fontwell, and the runner-up will be in search of a four-timer on his next start, so the form has worked out efficiently well.

Last seen at Exeter, he was forced to carry a monster weight of 12-1 but his finishing position of sixth of 12 wasn’t a true reflection on his performance at all, as he made his challenge earlier than ideal.

The handicapper has dropped his mark a pound and he has always appealed as a chaser in the making given how fluent he was over hurdles and, from what is an extremely lenient mark, he rates a big player.