Another profitable column for Jake Price on Saturday with two winners (11/4 & 2/1). Check out his tips for Sunday here.
12:50 Windsor
Tip: HARRY LOWES (1pt Win) & MALDINI MILANO (1pt Win)
There are understandably plenty of Horses in this race who turn up with bags of untapped potential, and one of those has to be Dan Skelton’s HARRY LOWES, who simply has to be a better horse than his current official rating of 121 suggests.
Having been beaten in his first point-to-point at Oldtown, he stepped up in trip to 3m at Quakerstown in April and put in a brilliant performance to beat none other than Mighty Park – a horse who made a stunning impression at Fairyhouse on Thursday. He would drop all the way back to 2m½f at Exeter in November for his Hurdles debut having joined Dan Skelton however, and it was a nice performance that he put in to easily score by 2 lengths.
He was last seen finishing third behind the pretty smart Montemares (130) and Plains Drifter at Market Rasen in December when running in another Novices’ Hurdle under a 7lbs winners penalty, but he stayed the 2m4½f trip fine and just looked to be in need of that race experience. It does mean that he received an opening handicap mark of 121 however, and that looks workable if today is the day.
Another novice with some really nice form under his belt who is now making Handicap debut off a very workable mark is MALDINI MILANO, and he looks the exact type that Paul Nicholls excels with. This Bumper winner made a good hurdles debut at Newton Abbot in September when finishing second behind dual subsequent winner A Pai De Nom (124), and following that effort he looked to have top claims at Fontwell when disaster struck at the first obstacle and he ended up unseating Harry Cobden.
A few days later at Plumpton he finally could make ends over 2m4½f however, as he stayed on really nicely to beat Boxing Day Handicap winner Daylatedollarshort (114) and subsequent Novice Hurdle and Wednesday Handicap winner General Briar (116+) quite comfortably in first-time cheekpieces. As such, his form lines very much suggest than an opening mark of 114 underestimates his ability now tackling handicaps. As I couldn’t split the pair, I am happy to play both.
13:20 Windsor
Tip 3: SALVER - 1pt Win
Patience was key at Windsor on Friday, as they seemed to get racing from quite far out on quite a regular occurrence. That waited running style should suit SALVER perfectly then, as when he won the Grade 2 Esher Novices’ Chase at Sandown in December he was given a lovely hold-up ride from Caoilin Quinn to pick up Doyen Quest with consummate ease.
You would imagine that it will be a similar story here with the Dan Skelton horse re-opposing, and despite a 5lbs unfavourable swing in the weights, I would expect a similar result considering how the track has been riding. Kempton didn’t really look to suit him when he finished in 4th place in a race which was dominated by Kitzbuhel, but this drop in class can see him return to the winners enclosure despite having to carry a penalty.
14:25 Windsor
Tip 4: ROYAL RAMBLER - 1pt Win
We finish Sunday in what looks a very competitive 3m Handicap Hurdle, but if given a more patient ride on this occasion, I think that ROYAL RAMBLER has everything in his favour to make amends for his narrow Chepstow defeat over Christmas.
This Emma Lavelle 6yo racked up some nice Novice Hurdle form when beating Shade Of Winter/As Legends Have It before then only narrowly defeated by Saturday’s impressive Ascot winner The Jukebox Kid (130+), when aiming to give that horse 6lbs at the weights. Having struggled in two Handicaps over the intermediate trip thus far this season however, he shaped with huge promise stepped up to 3m at Chepstow on the 27th December.
Running off a mark of 126, he was sent off the 11/4 favourite to get the job done – but as mentioned above, Gavin Sheehan seemed to send him on too soon, as he kicked for home at the third last. Had he waited that bit longer then it might not have allowed King Of The Lake (128) to battle back, but our selection lost little in defeat when only beaten three-quarters of a length. The front pair pulled 9 lengths clear of the remainder, and with Emma Lavelle’s yard back in good form, I think he has strong claims.
