Jake Price's Free Racing Tips for Friday's Boxing Day Action

Tip 1: BARLOVENTO - 1pt Win

Best odds of 5/1 at William Hill during publishing.

In the opener at Kempton on what is an extremely busy day, I thought that Olly Murphy's BARLOVENTO was a standout bet after making a very pleasing Chase debut at Exeter last month when only narrowly denied.

As a Novice Hurdler, this lad beat the progressive Grand Geste (129) at Carlisle, before he then finished runner-up to Ma Shantou (138) when handed an impossible task of trying to give 7lbs to the winner. He ended his season with a disappointing effort at Leicester, but that came on bottomless ground, so I am happy to put a line through it as he has otherwise largely been kept to quicker ground conditions, which he will clearly receive at Kempton on Friday.

Having had a wind operation over the Summer, his Chase debut at Exeter came in quite a competitive Novice Handicap Chase. Having been held up in the early stages, he was given plenty of time, and he warmed to his jumping task.

Amazingly, though having been pushed along entering the home straight, he managed to hit the front by the time they jumped 3 out, which was a lot of ground made up in such a short amount of time. Ultimately, he hit the front too soon, but it took until the final strides for U Cant Be Serious to get by. With our selection now 7lbs better off at the weights, he surely can reverse form this time around.

Tip 2: ALFIE’S PRINCESS - 1pt Win

Best odds of 3/1 at Ladbrokes while publishing.

The Sam Thomas bandwagon keeps rolling on this season, and I am excited to see ALFIE’S PRINCESS return to action as she looks every bit a proper Chasing Mare, and is surely well handicapped after missing last season, having jarred up on ground quicker than ideal. With all the recent rain, the ground at Wincanton is Soft, providing the desired conditions for her return.

This Irish point-to-point winner was a very useful Novice Hurdler in the 2023/24 season, winning at Chepstow and Exeter before then finishing 5th in the Listed Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock, which is being run this weekend. She was third behind Jingko Blue (151) and Titan Discovery (133) on handicap debut at Sandown, but on her next start at Newbury in the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle Final, she ran a cracker for second place behind the now 17lbs higher rated All The Glory (132).

Connections were excited for her to go over fences last season, and when starting out at Ffos Las in October over 2m5½f, she was sent off 15/8f to get the job done. Despite jumping notably well and staying on strongly to the line, she was narrowly denied by Smiling Getaway (126), who had first run, but overall, it was an eye-catching start over fences and would have been a great platform to build upon.

Unfortunately, that opportunity has not transpired until now, but connections have been patient in waiting for soft ground. She’s still well handicapped off a mark of 119.

Tip 3: INDEEVAR BLEU - 1.5pts Win

Best odds of 2/1 at SpreadEx while publishing.

Hopefully, Boxing Day will be a fruitful one for Olly Murphy, as another of his runners with a huge chance is INDEEVAR BLEU up at Aintree, who finally steps up in distance to intermediate trips having raced exclusively over two miles during his career to date.

This 7yo is still extremely lightly raced with only five hurdle starts to his name, but last season he converted twice - winning on hurdles debut at Leicester last December, before then readily winning on Handicap debut off a mark of 120 at Ffos Las in April. The run which really caught my eye, however, was his second place in the Gerry Feilden Handicap Hurdle at Newbury last month, where he ran a belter to split Tutti Quanti (138) and Indemnity (124).

The assessor raised him 3lbs from a mark of 126 to 129 for that effort, but the way he stayed on strongly after the last to close all the way up the line suggests to me that further improvement can be unlocked now, moving up in trip to 2m4f. Aintree should be an ideal track for him, and Jack Tudor is an interesting booking with the stable's regular riders all elsewhere.

Tip 4: FORTUNATE MAN - 1pt Win

Best odds of 9/2 at bet365 while publishing.

I thought that Blenkinsop was plenty short enough in the market here, and instead I'd rather play last year’s winner, FORTUNATE MAN, to retain his crown.

The issues in the Jonjo and AJ O’Neill yard have been well documented over the past few weeks, but all things considered, their return has been largely good news, with 4 winners and 5 places from 22 runners. Hopefully, then, this still unexposed chaser can continue his good progression from last term.

When winning this race last year, it was only his third run over fences, having on his previous start been beaten a short head by O’Connell (137) at Carlisle. It was a good performance when beating Gustavian (135) off a mark of 120, however, and he's since been placed in the Stayers Handicap Chase at Windsor, as well as placing third behind Tanganyika (137) back at Carlisle in February. He arrives at Aintree fresh this time around, but off a mark of 124, I still think he has plenty of improvement to come.

Tip 5: ZAINY CHAMP - 1pt Win

Best odds of 9/2 at bet365 during publishing.

Jeremy Scott has been flying along in December with 5 winners from 20 runners, and amongst those was ZAINY CHAMP, who really got his career back on track at Exeter with a facile success from the front.

That six-and-a-half length success when hardly seeing another rival clearly is a tactic which he appreciated, and the second, Jack Hoola, was well fancied, having come into the race with two recent wins under his belt. I also find it very interesting that the race he won was over 2m2½f, but he now drops back in trip to 1m7f at Wincanton instead.

I am sure the plan will be to bounce off out in front to repeat the feat, so considering they know he stays further, I am expecting an aggressive ride from Rex Dingle.