The Weekend Winners panel reconvened on Friday, discussing the best betting angles ahead of Saturday’s racing from Newbury and Kelso.
Kate Tracey, Declan Rix and Sam Boswell paid particular attention to Newbury’s BetVictor Home Of The Saturday Superboost Handicap Chase – which is live on Sky Sports Racing at 2.25pm.
Having won this race in 2023 and 2024, the Dan Skelton-trained Heltenham is back to win back his crown but will have to contend with the well-fancied Knapper Hill, Prairie Wolf and Twinjets – to name just three.
Declan Rix…
“I’m hoping all eight run for each-way punters but I thought at the prices I wanted to take on Heltenham. Spring is in the air and I just wonder, is the ground going to get a little bit away from him? If they don’t put down loads of water he might be a little vulnerable.
“Knappers Hill clearly hasn’t been easy to train, Twinjets was also really disappointing last time out. Scarface? Who knows what he’s going to do here! Authorised Speed and Coastguard Station are two horses returning from lengthy absences.
“I went all the way down to the bottom of the field and Hercule De Seuil I think is really interesting. He’s a JP McManus-owned horse who used to be trained in Ireland by a fella called Willie Mullins – I don’t know if you’ve heard of him? He’s now with the [Neil] Mulholland team and his stable debut at Doncaster a couple of weeks ago was pretty good. There was no early pace in the race and Mighty Bandit got a complete freebie off the front end and made it count. I don’t think Richie McLernon was overly hard on him but he really took off in the final furlong. Going back to two-and-a-half on some nicer ground and being dropped 3lbs by the handicapper is all going to play into his hands.”
Sam Boswell…
“It’s a good little race but I’m going to be unoriginal and go back to Heltenham. This is his Gold Cup – it’s what he’s here for. I put him up at 20/1 last time he ran and he won, and he drifted that day. The ground was a question mark that day, which is why punters didn’t fancy him, but he ran a brilliant race. There is something about this track that just brings out the best in him, and he popped them nicely.
“Harry Skelton being back on board is a great thing and it feels like a Saturday where Dan Skelton could emulate what his old boss used to do with a Saturday seven-timer. My assumption is he’ll come on for the run and I think he’ll go in one more time at his beloved Newbury.”
Kate Tracey…
“I love Heltenham, he’s such a character. It is interesting when you look back at two years ago, he won the Greatwood Gold Cup before going on to win this race, having already won it in 2023. He’s following the same route as that and you look his ratings: 123, 136 and now 140 trying to win this race.
“His mark has elevated because he’s been getting better and better, for all that he can still have his jumping frailties. I do think that’s because of the ground and it’s in the Skeltons we trust in terms of that assessment.”
Watch the episode in full on the At The Races YouTube channel…
