Jake Price looks to continue his good form with five tips for Saturday's racing.
13:10 Kempton
Tip 1: Royal Infantry - 0.75pts E/W
You would have to note that ROYAL INFANTRY has been a bit of an oddly campaigned horse in the past year, as since disappointing in the Rossington Main when beforehand looking like a Supreme contender, they have tried all sorts of different routes with him. Overall, I think he will receive his ideal conditions at Kempton on Saturday however, and it looks a good opportunity for him to return to the winner’s enclosure.
He began his season with a very good third place at Chepstow in the Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle, where he was only beaten 4 lengths by Rambo T (140) and Paggane (142). That was a race where he very much caught the eye, and shaped as if he would step forward for the outing. Unfortunately, the chosen target was the Intermediate Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham November meeting, where they raced in very testing conditions. He travelled up nicely into second place at the bottom of the hill, but he just didn’t seem to get home when losing two positions after the last.
Connections decided to send him over fences in December when running in a 2m4½f Novices’ Chase up against Sixmilebridge and Califet En Vol, but he really didn’t take to that discipline and was quickly left behind turning for home. Harry Skelton nursed him home in a well beaten third place, but I was pleased to see them quickly abandon those plans and revert to hurdles instead.
He was last seen when running at Windsor in January, where he was sent off the outsider of five in the 2m4f Class 2 Conditions Hurdle. It was a very good race won by Potters Charm (154), but what was very notable was the ride on ROYAL INFANTRY. He travelled into the contest as good as anything from a held-up position, but when the taps were turned Tristan Durrell did not pick up the stick once – opting to use hands and heels to cajole him along. I would say that the final outcome of only being beaten 4.75 lengths in fifth was above connections expectations going into the race.
The bare form of finishing so close to rivals rated 154 – 144 – 145 – 151 in a race where he was very much given a confidence booster reads extremely well now dropping back down into a Class 3 2m5f Handicap Hurdle, and the better ground at Kempton on Saturday should also be a in his favour. His official rating of 138 is well within reach providing this is a going day.
14:55 Chepstow
Tip 2: Keable - 0.5pts E/W
The last Pertemps Qualifier ran in Britain tends to have a bit of desperation in the air, and the likes of a Gowel Road or Monmiral will surely want to finish in the top 4 with the minimum of fuss considering how close we are to the Cheltenham Festival. I am very much looking at the other end of the handicap for the winner then, and considering they have booked a 7lbs claimer, KEABLE stands out as the bet here to me.
On seasonal reappearance at Newbury in November he made an instant impact in the 3m Handicap Hurdle division, as he relished the soft ground to beat the unexposed Blue Carpet (120) off a mark of 123, aided by Callum Pritchard’s 5lbs claim. The soft ground very much helped him that day, and connections even said post-race that they were worried the ground might not have been soft enough.
He ran here at Chepstow on Welsh National day where the ground was clearly not soft enough, and on that occasion, he was fairly well behind King Of The Lake – but this time around our selection will be 10lbs better off at the weights with Mr Jack Stenhouse taking the ride. In the interim period KEABLE ran well enough at Windsor in a very competitive 3m Handicap Hurdle last month, but I can forgive any horse being beaten at that track as it seems to suit very few horses.
A mark of 127 may well be enough to get a run in the final, but the fact that Hobbs and White have booked a claimer suggests to me that they would like to be winning a pot like this without going too much further up the weights.
Dabble
Kempton 15:00
Tip 3: Double Measure - 1pt Win
The Dovecote is rarely a strong race, but this looks a particularly poor renewal with hardly any graded form being offered up to the table. Possibly the strongest piece of form comes from DOUBLE MEASURE however, and I think he could be the one to side with following a confidence boosting win when we last saw him.
This Dan Skelton horse ran an extremely eye-catching race on hurdles debut at Chepstow in November, where under a hands and heels ride he finished right up the backside of The Blue Room (129). That run was to supposedly set him up nicely for a crack at the Grade 2 Newton Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock 17 days later, but he was never really able to get into the race when finishing fourth. Nevertheless, he still ran on well in the closing stages, and he had some nice horses ahead of him such as Diamond Hunter (135) and Masked Man (133).
Connections sensibly dropped him back into a Maiden Hurdle at Huntingdon 30 days ago, and it was very much a race where he was expected to win having been sent off the 2/5f. He travelled supremely well under Harry Skelton and went on to score by a very easy 11 lengths, but his jumping was impressive and there is surely much more to come from him considering he has already been thought good enough to win at this Grade 2 level.
DOUBLE MEASURE 1pt Win @ 4/1
15:35 Kempton
Tip 4: KATATE DORI - 1.5pt Win
Going into this season there were two races on the agenda for KOTATE DORI; firstly the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, but latterly the Ladbrokes Trophy at Kempton – a race in which he truly announced himself onto the Handicap Chase scene when absolutely demolishing the field by 15 lengths just one year ago.
When you read the bare form that he won easily by 15 lengths you would probably assume that he made all of the running, but what is more impressive is the fact that he set off in the rear before making smooth progress to lead at the fifth last flight. It was an extremely impressive jumping performance at a track which clearly suits, and had you stuck the extra 11lbs on that he carries this year, the result would very much have been the same.
Connections took their chance with him in the Ultima afterwards which didn’t work out, but this season he has shown that he is more than capable of running well from his new rating. His season began with a spin over hurdles in preparation for the aforementioned Coral Gold Cup, and on his first big day of the campaign he ran a nice race in sixth place, perhaps just finding the extended 3m2f trip stretched his stamina to the maximum.
Connections couldn’t just leave him off the track all the way through until Kempton this weekend however, so on New Year’s Day he took his chance back at Cheltenham for a 3m1½f Handicap Chase. In terms of timing it was ideal, but in terms of track it probably wasn’t first choice – but regardless he ran a belter in the cheekpieces, only being beaten half-a-length by Herakles Westwood (137).
The handicapper only raised him 1lb to a mark of 136 for that good effort, but I love that his headgear has been switched back to the visor which saw him bolt up here 12 months ago. Considering Sam Thomas’ overall strike-rate of 34% (21/62) this season you can be certain that KOTATE DORI will have been primed for a repeat bid in the race. Sam even has an excellent record in this race too, having trained the third in 2022, the winner in 2023, the second in 2024, and the winner/third in 2025.
16:05 Kempton
Tip 5: Javert Allen - 1pt Win
We end Saturday in the 2m4½f Handicap Chase, and I am sure that Bad will have plenty of takers returning to Kempton. He really is not a horse you want to be trusting with any sort of confidence however, as he can just completely spit the dummy out like he did at Ascot on his penultimate start. In receipt of 16lbs I thought JAVERT ALLEN was the better option, as he showed plenty of aptitude for intermediate trips at Cheltenham when last seen.
This Jane Williams 7yo was plenty keen enough in his early days, and as such he was kept over two miles for a long time – but a race which summed up his two-mile chasing career was the one at Newbury in November, where he and Doyen Du Bar took each other on for the lead and in the end set it up for Ryan’s Rocket to close them all down late in the day.
He was running well behind the likes of Mambonumberfive (146) and Ryan’s Rocket (135) without being able to feature in the closing stages, but his pedigree in being a half-brother to Gladiateur Allen very much suggested that going up in trip might be the key to unlocking that extra bit of improvement.
Going to Cheltenham on Trials Day was probably a bold choice in where to go and test your stamina, but having bucked out in front Ciaran Gethings did a good job at dictating the pace. Going down the back straight he started to build up a bit of a lead by way of his fantastic jumping, and turning for home he was still a couple of lengths ahead – but the closers Donnacha (136) and Jagwar (152) were able to come and get him on that testing ground. To his credit he plugged on well for third however, and connections must have been delighted with that effort.
Now that he has shown he can stay this sort of intermediate trip, the prospect of going to a track like Kempton really excites me as he should be able to use all of his tactical speed and jumping ability. If he is able to build up a similar sort of lead down the back like he did at Cheltenham, he will be much harder to catch this time on a flat track with no gruelling hill to climb in the closing stages. His biggest pace danger would look to be Etalon, but even he may struggle to keep up with our selection shouldering the burden of top weight. A win here could be a perfect springboard onto the Topham at Aintree, for which he would need to go up in the weights to get in.
