Jake Price has provided an array of tips across Satuday's racing action at Newbury and Bangor.
12:37 Bangor
Newton Tornado - 1pt Win
Rebecca Curtis’ horses have pretty much universally been coming on for their first runs, with Ben Solo and Pottersville two particular examples to drastically step forward from their re-appearances. One of her horses who was running a big race on debut however is NEWTON TORNADO, and he should take a lot of beating here.
Last season this 6yo was a good Novice Hurdler, finishing down the field on two occasions before then taking 2nd behind Diva Luna (141) over 2m4½f at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. Stepped up to 2m7½f for the first time at Uttoxeter in February he was only narrowly denied a half-length by Saint Palais (who was rated 135 at the time), but he rounded his season out by winning a 2m4f Maiden Hurdle at Ffos Las in good style.
Fences were always going to be the making of this point-to-point winner, and an opening handicap mark of 121 tempted connections enough to go to Cheltenham for his Chase debut in October – where he ran in a competitive 2m4f Novice Handicap. It’s never an easy task for a Novice to start off at Prestbury Park, but he jumped notably well to the point where he took himself into the lead heading out on the second circuit. At the 4th last he completely guessed at it however, and went through the fence before tumbling.
Obviously we’ll never know how he would have finished out that race, but he’s sure to have come on for it fitness wise, and he proved he can jump fences extremely well when concentrating. That fall should have taught him a lot, and as such I’d expect him to make amends on this occasion.
13:40 Newbury
FRENCH SHIP - 1pt Win
After falling in the Silver Trophy at Cheltenham went sent off a 7/2 shot for a race stronger than this, FRENCH SHIP gave many punters a headache at Cheltenham 13 days later when running in another competitive contest. Many deserted him, but this column kept the faith and duly collected following a bloodless victory.
He was worth every bit of an 8lbs rise considering his manor of victory over Navajo Indy (132) and Bowensonfire (133), and he was again fancied for another contest back at Cheltenham in November – but he was pulled out that day on the count of Heavy ground due to the Friday monsoon.
This 2m4f contest at Newbury looks much more suitable however, and as mentioned previously, I’m not sure there is the same strength in depth in this race compared to his previous two runs. The only issue might be how much rain falls on Saturday, as at the time of writing 5-10mm is due but the timing of which is still unknown. As long as the lower end of that spectrum falls before 13:40, Philip Hobbs and Johnson White have a brilliant chance of returning to the winners enclosure.
14:15 Newbury
LIVE CONTI
This is a very competitive race with a few nicely handicapped horses, but at the prices I’d actually want to chance LIVE CONTI to outclass these for the Skelton team. Connections are looking forward to going Chasing with him this time next year, but they want to get some more experience into him first – and whilst he isn’t the best handicapped horse in training, he is clearly talented.
Dan Skelton said in a recent stable tour that he could ‘move into Graded company in the Spring’, so you’d expect him to be able to pick up a handicap like this beforehand if that is the case. It could very much be a case of Kabral Du Mathan last week where he wins a Handicap well, then moves into Graded company thereafter.
This lad was a very good for 2nd to Murcia in the Grade 1 Anniversary at Aintree though, despite drifting out to 16/1 SP from a much shorter price the night before. That day he was 3.75L ahead of Give It To Me OJ off level weights, and they would be off levels again here if it was not for Tristan Durrell’s very handy 3lbs claim considering he is second Jockey to Dan Skelton (with Harry up at Newcastle this weekend). With the ground of no concern, he looks worth chancing.
At a bit of a bigger price I also think that TUTTI QUANTI is worth one more chance here, as it is notable he was sent off an 11/4 shot for the Welsh Champion Hurdle – a race which has worked out extremely well with Celtic Dino (147) beating Alexei (147). Paul Nicholls’ 5yo was expected to be right up there with the pair, but for whatever reason he ran no race at all down the field. Given a break of 48 days to get everything back in order, he is clearly still a well-treated animal off a mark of 130, and it would not surprise to see him bounce back to form on some softer ground.
14:55 Newbury
LOWRY’S BAR
This is an ultra-competitive renewal of the Coral Gold Cup with a maximum field of 24 going to post, and you can make cases for most of these. Of those at the front of the market I’d probably just about favour Myretown, but there seems to be very little value in playing a horse like him or Resplendent Grey in what is going to be such a tough race to win.
Instead, one at a massive price who is a bit of a ‘forgotten horse’ is LOWRY’S BAR, and I think he is worth a swing with the extra places on offer. This lad got well backed Ante-Post for the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, and he was shorter than most of these for that race (ahead of the likes of Myretown, Resplendent Grey, Hyland and even The Changing Man) – but for some reason connections decided to run him at Kempton in February for the Ladbrokes Trophy.
His whole season fell apart at that point when bleeding and being pulled up (having drifted out from 11/2 out to 17/2 before the off), but hopefully he can return back to his best with any rain that falls at Newbury set to suit him well. He never seems to train on past January so I am happy to put a line through that run and give him one more chance – as the form he racked up as a Novice Chaser last season with the likes of Jagwar (148) and Jingko Blue (151) makes him still look well treated off a mark of 148.
15:35 Newbury
DOYEN DU BAR
One of the horses I am most keen on for Saturday comes in the final race, where DOYEN DU BAR still looks an extremely well handicapped horse despite having plenty of form lines to his name which have worked out very well.
Trained by Pauline Robson last season, he made a successful chase debut up at Ayr in November when seeing off The Kalooki Kid (141) – who has gone on to win twice subsequently and looks a lovely horse for Nicky Richards this season. Afterwards he then backed up at Aintree on Boxing Day, where this time he beat Booster Bob (132) who has since won a Premier Handicap at Newbury.
Having gone down to Sandown in January this 9yo only found Vincenzo (139) too good, and that horse has since ran an absolute belter in the Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Cheltenham when finishing in 2nd place. Our selection wasn’t done winning there however, as he rounded off his campaign with an impressive victory back at Ayr in February – where he comfortably scored by 6.5L off a mark of 126, and he only went up 5lbs for it.
Pauline Robson has since retired so he has moved to Nicky Richards, which in my book is probably a trainer upgrade as he is a very good handler up in the north – but I love that he has found an opportunity down South, and a trip like this one wouldn’t be one he makes often. What’s more is that connections have booked the best available jockey in Harry Cobden. Any rain that falls will only increase his chances.
