Jake Price is back with three best bets for Saturday's racing cards at Cheltenham.
14:55 Cheltenham - Handicap Chase (Class 2) - 3m1fSee All Odds
TIP 1: KATATE DORI - 1pt Win
Best odds of 9/2 at Unibet while publishing.
This 3m1f Handicap Chase is extremely weak, and the final field leaves a lot to be desired. The Horse with the best form in the book over three-miles however is certainly KATATE DORI, and he is a strong bet to land this race for the Sam Thomas team.
Last season he proved that he is able to act at Cheltenham when running a belter on New Year’s Day, where he was only headed inside the final 100 yards when running over a trip of 3m1½f. That form alone when running off a mark of 135 is the standard setting piece of form in this race, and I also think it is a positive that this race is on the slightly shorter Old Course, rather than the stamina-sapping New Course he raced on that day.
He was extremely well fancied to go back-to-back at Kempton in February when returning to the Ladbrokes Trophy, but he completely lost his position at an early stage. He still ran on again to only be beaten 12 lengths into 8th place which is another piece of form probably good enough to win a race like this, but I can put a line through that and his subsequent effort in the Scottish National where he clearly did not stay four-miles.
Now down to an official rating of just 132, he's at his lowest point on the scale since his 15 length Kempton victory twelve months prior to the one just discussed. That makes him very well treated in my eyes, and we know that Sam Thomas is a master of targeting winnable pots for his Horses. First-time blinkers are also applied in a bid to spark that final bit of improvement. This looks an ideal opportunity to return to the winners enclosure.
15:30 Cheltenham - Masterson Holdings Hurdle (Class 2) - 2m½fSee All Odds
TIP 2: INDIAN RIVER - 1pt Win
Best odds of 12/5 at Betway while publishing.
During the week I put up INDIAN RIVER at 10/1 in my Ante-Post column which you can read here, and I am delighted with that position now as he has been cut into a general price of 3/1 at the time of writing. He clearly has top claims for a race like this, and I certainly haven't been put off of his chances by the final declarations.
If you were looking to cover off something else in the race, then I would probably go for North Shore as being the biggest danger. If you are not on Ante-Post, I would still advise a 1pt Win at the current prices available.
INDIAN RIVER 1pt Win @ 10/1 [Ante-Post]
16:05 Cheltenham - Novices' Chase (Class 3) - 3m1fSee All Odds
TIP 3: CATCHINTSAVO - 1pt Win
Best odds of 11/4 at Unibet while publishing.
The market has opted for Derryhassen Paddy here, but he has been off the track for the best part of a year due to injury, and instead I would rather back a Horse with very similar ability in CATCHINTSAVO for the Anthony Honey all team.
This 6yo was highly tried last season, and he finally got off the mark at Ludlow in January. A third at Ascot was followed by another win under a penalty at Plumpton in March, but by far his best piece of form followed at the Aintree Festival in April.
Contesting the Grade 1 Oddschecker Sefton Novices' Hurdle, he ran an absolute screamer to split Zeus Power (146) and Albert Bartlett winner Johnny’s Jury (147), and that race has also been working out quite well with the 4th Frankie John (140) winning races over fences. Our selection made the winner work very hard all the way to the line however, so it was a very smart performance showing he had improved plenty over timber with experience.
This point-to-point winner was purchased with Chasing in mind, and he was already schooling over fences in the Spring in preparation for the campaign that lies ahead. By all accounts he is a very accurate jumper, and whilst Anthony Honey all hasn't had too many runners to judge his fitness on, he did win a Bumper at Newton Abbot last weekend.
