Jake Price is back on Oddschecker, and he's picked out three bets for Friday's jump season opener at Chepstow.
15:12 Chepstow - Veterans Handicap Chase
Bet 1: Hang In There - 9/1 - 0.5pts EW
9/1 Available with bet365 and Paddy Power at the time of publishing. 8/1 and 17/2 widely available.
This is an open Veterans Chase, but with the quick ground in his favour, I think that HANG IN THERE has strong claims of defying top weight now handed a much more reasonable official rating.
He’s probably been one of the most falsely handicapped Horses in training since winning the Summer Cup at Uttoxeter in June 2024 off a mark of 155 - as afterwards he was put up to an official rating of 159. Following that hike in the weights he kept on running good races however, culminating with a very good 4th place finish in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase.
In the Spring however, he finally started to drop down the ratings by finishing down the field in Handicaps off huge weights, but in June he did run a belter in the Perth Gold Cup off 151 when a close second behind Statuario. His latest effort was when 7th in the Summer Plate at Market Rasen, but he has now finally been dropped 4lbs to a mark of 147 - which means he gets to race off his lowest mark since September 2023 (when he won off 143).
Good ground is crucial to this Emma Lavelle trained 11yo, and you would imagine a race like this could well be his Gold Cup before going off on his usual winter break.
16:17 Chepstow - Novices Chase
Bet 2: Knight of Allen - 16/1 - 1pt Win
16/1 Available with Sky Bet and Paddy Power at the time of publishing.
A BHA initiative for the season ahead is to ditch a load of Novice Handicap Chases in favour of standard Beginners/Novice events, and sadly this race won by Destroytheevidence and Chianti Classico in recent season is a victim of that. Nevertheless, it is an intriguing renewal and I think you can make a case for one at price.
The highest rated in the field is the Mare Coco Mademoiselle, but I thought she was pretty vulnerable having to give weight to the geldings - especially as she was lucky to beat Secret Trix at Worcester 14 days ago.
Jane Williams has always spoken glowingly about KNIGHT OF ALLEN however, and if he takes to fences as connections expect him to, then I think he is more than capable of winning this despite currently being the lowest rated in the field.
Throughout his career he has shown a preference for better ground, winning here at Chepstow in April 2024, before then winning at Ffos Las this Spring when seeing off Ben Solo quite comfortably. In the meantime he also has a very nice piece of form at Haydock when 3rd behind Steel Ally (143) and Beat The Bat (135), but I'd expect him to develop into a much better Chaser than Hurdler. Stepping up in trip to 3m should be ideal too, and can also aid the necessary further improvement.
13:22 Chepstow - Novices’ Hurdle
Bet 3: Frontier Prince - 9/4 - 1pt Win
9/4 Available with Sky Bet and Paddy Power at the time of writing.
With the experience of a run in a Novice Hurdle already under his belt, I thought that FRONTIER PRINCE would take all the beating here for the Fergal O’Brien team.
A very useful Bumper horse, he beat subsequent Newbury Sales Bumper winner Kadastral by 2 lengths in quite impressive style at Kempton in February, and that earnt him the right to turn up in the Grade 2 Bumper at the Aintree Festival.
betkwiff
He ran a very solid race that day in 7th place behind Green Splendour, and as already mentioned connections decided to crack on over Hurdles by running him at Uttoxeter in early May.
He ran on in extremely promising style that day to only be beaten a neck into second by Trustintimes, who went on to boost the form by scoring again the following month under a winners penalty. Our selection should be much more street wise of this occasion however, and I'd fancy him to go one place better.
16:55 Chepstow - Handicap Hurdle
Bet 4: Block Rocking Beats - 22/1 - 0.5pts EW
22/1 Available with bet365 at the time of publishing.
The early prices seem to have missed how well handicapped BLOCK ROCKING BEATS could be, and as such he is worth a small each/way play.
A very good Bumper Horse last Autumn, this 6yo won a Bumper at the Cheltenham October meeting first time up - seeing off the talented Fortune De Mer in gritty fashion. The pair then re-opposed in the Listed Bumper at the Cheltenham November meeting, where this time the placings were reversed thanks to a very cheeky ride from Harry Skelton - but the form is pretty useful considering Count Of Vendrome was behind.
He went over Hurdles for the remainder of the season and ran well without threatening in Novice events - firstly when 4th behind Belliano (124) at Ascot. He then was tried in the Listed Sydney Banks at Huntingdon when last of 6, before finishing his campaign at Cheltenham when a promising 5th behind Jax Junior (136).
Surely there is plenty more to come from this P2P winner now that he tackles Handicaps, and an opening mark of 110 looks ripe for exploiting if he's ready to go first time up - just as he was 12 months ago.
