talkSPORT have you covered for the horse racing with tips and free bets in the meetings at Newbury, Navan, Doncaster and Kelso.
Tom Lunn has gone through the race cards, form, going and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices.
talkSPORT BET – Bet £10 Get £20 In Free Bets – CLAIM HERE* (mobile only)
Newbury tips
- 1.55: Highstakesplayer 9/2 (2pts – NB)
- 3.00: Perseus Way (1pt)
Doncaster tips
- 2.35: Homme Public 3/1 (1pt)
Navan tips
- 3.48: Blood Destiny 8/11 (2pts)
- 4.23: Journey With Me 8/11 (NAP – 2pts)
Kelso tips
- 2.17: Jango Baie 15/8 (1pt)
- 3.25: Monbeg Genius 5/2 (1pt)
Multiples
- Blood Destiny, Journey With Me, Jango Baie, Homme Public 33/1 (0.5pt four fold)
Highstakesplayer
There’s a few that appeal here but there’s a few concerning factors to take into consideration.
One of those being the ground, which is set to be heavy throughout the course with more rain expected across Friday evening into the morning on Saturday with it already heavy in places.
Most read in Horse Racing
Another being the weights of all these great chasers, who for the most part haven’t been as consistent due to the nature of the races they go for.
Highstakesplayer trained by Tom Lacey has to be a great shot at 9/2 having only been seen once since winning over Gemirande in November 2022.
He won by half a length to Iconic Muddle while giving plenty of weight away over 3m, so the step back to 2m4f is interesting and should have the stamina and turn of foot to thrive on the ground this weekend.
He was carrying a little more on that day against Gemirande and they have a bit of a rematch now, but that horse has gone on well and is now carrying a bit extra, which gives a real advantage to Highstakesplayer if he can also continue that form – going three from three over fences.
Perseus Way
There’s heavy ground this weekend and that’s meant a fair few early entries have pulled out already.
There remains seven entered in with full knowledge the ground is going to be testing and as such, they all stand a chance of coping well with it.
But one who can relish it the most is Perseus Way who hasn’t been seen over hurdles since his Grade 1 effort at Aintree.
He was carrying among the most in the Boodles at Cheltenham Festival the month before and came tenth in a busy finish – just under six lengths off the winner Jazzy Matty.
The soon to be six-year-old went on a brief trip to Owen Burrows’ yard to take on a small flat stint on the all-weather before heading back to Christian Williams to head back over the hurdles and he seems the likely candidate to have made a lot of progress since then.
Homme Public
Over to Doncaster, for this intriguing Class 2 Handicap Chase, with two horses way above the rest in the ratings – Nube Negra and Tommy’s Oscar.
Homme Public however, who’s the youngest of the field by far at seven-years-old is still progressing over fences and is given 16 and 15lb respectively by the pair.
Which gives him all the potential to take this up which he should be more than capable of due to his latest run in second just proving his ability.
He may well have finished second to Persian Time but it doesn’t paint the whole picture – he was carrying 10lb more with that horse looking great over fences as he placed close behind Djelo in December and wasn’t upped in the weights when facing Homme Public next time out.
Now he’s got the weights with him he can progress nicely and make it three wins from four over fences.
Blood Destiny
The Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase is up next over 2m and the Willie Mullins-trained Blood Destiny has to take the spoils.
Blood Destiny was just two lengths off of Spillane’s Tower last time out and now the weights are much more in his favour to reverse that form.
While it was a good debut from Spillane’s Tower on what was Blood Destiny’s second go over fences, he should make up for that on Saturday afternoon’s Grade 3 chase nudged down to 2m instead of 2m3f.
Journey With Me
Over in Ireland, Navan host a decent Saturday card with two Graded races including this Grade 2 Webster Cup Chase.
Ash Tree Meadow tops the ratings on the field but was disappointing last time out at Naas, finishing fourth of six 28 lengths behind Ferny Hollow just six days before this race.
He’s got a couple of entries into Cheltenham Festival and this may be too soon but trainer Gordon Elliott might want to make sure that was just a fluke poor effort before sending him into the Plate or Ryanair Chase.
Journey With Me however, has been absent since falling at Punchestown in the Grade 1 Champion Novice Chase back in April 2023.
The step up in trip and for just his second run over fences he struggled with his jumping but really could make a big comeback based on his top level form before that.
He was also challenging for that win and could be a nice price to win on this weekend.
Jango Baie
Jango Baie won the Grade 1 Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree on Boxing Day and came a decent second to Handstands in February.
Handstands is clearly a cut above though, going unbeaten over hurdles and his sole point back in 2023.
So it really makes a stronger case for Jango Baie to keep improving and get back to winning ways, having only three hurdles to his name going into this and two prominent victories.
He also gets the weight advantage carrying only a few pounds more than some rated much lower and he can capitalise on that for Nicky Henderson.
Monbeg Genius
Monbeg Genius, trained by Jonjo O’Neill is relatively lightly raced as an eight-year-old and hasn’t quite been able to show what he’s really capable of yet.
He was pulled up on seasonal debut at Ascot in November before finishing third in a tough Grade 3 at Newbury in December.
Only beaten by Datsalrightgino and Mahler Mission which is encouraging form coming into this one, even if he did finish ten lengths off.
Stamina testing trips such as 3m2f definitely exaggerate the lengths seen sometimes at the finish so it shouldn’t put punters off the favourite to win this time.
Conditions are set to suit and he’s coming in fresh having put in a mighty season in 22/23, most notably coming third behind Corach Rambler in the Ultima.
P+L
+135.42 points (from 9th October 2023)
+208.79 points (from 10th July 2023)
All odds correct at time of writing
talkSPORT BET – Bet £10 Get £20 In Free Bets – CLAIM HERE* (mobile only)
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talkSPORT. 18+. T&Cs apply. Begambleaware.org
*18+ New customers only. Opt in via mobile device, bet £10+ on Horse Racing at odds of 2.00+, in 7 days. Get 4x £5 in free bets on selected markets. Bonuses expire in 7 days. Card payments & Apple Pay only. T&Cs Apply. BeGambleAware.org | Please gamble responsibly
Source: Talk Sport