There is plenty of great racing to look forward to this weekend on ITV, starting with the Newbury Winter Festival this afternoon. We have the latest betting tips and predictions for every televised race.
Friday Racing from Newbury
1:15
The action from Newbury’s Winter Carnival gets underway on ITV Racing with a maiden hurdle, and it’s the race everyone is talking about, because of one horse, Jonbon. He comes with a huge reputation as he is the full brother to Douvan, who was sensational in his peak for Willie Mullins. Jonbon was bought by JP Mcmanus for £570,000 after winning a point-to-point very impressively by 15 lengths. He was then sent to be trained by Nicky Henderson, he only had the one start last season and he won his bumper in good style. Nico de Boinville was due to ride him here today, but he got injured schooling a horse yesterday on the gallops at Henderson’s yard, so our new brand ambassador Aidan Coleman got the call up to take the big ride. He said exclusively to MansionBet in his blog, “I know the spotlight will be on me tomorrow, as there has been a lot said about Jonbon. I have sat on him and he does everything really easy at home, let’s hope he can do it on the track and be the very special horse we all think he is”.
It’s not really a betting race, although there has been a lot of money around this week for Good Risk At All for Sam Twiston-Davies. He is open to a huge amount of improvement, if he can jump better here today, as he was let down by his jumping on his hurdling debut.
We’re going to be hoping Jonbon can live up to all the hype and be the new superstar on the block.
Selection – Jonbon – 11/10
1:50
We have an interesting novices’ handicap chase up next and Boothill heads the market on his chasing debut. Since joining Harry Fry he has had 3 runs over hurdles winning 2 of them. He finished third last time out at Ascot running a really good race. He does look like the chasing type, so he could be one to keep an eye on going forward this season. James Bowe picks up the ride on Mister Coffey due to the injury to Nico de Boinville, and he has a very good chance here. He obviously goes well fresh as he has won on his first start for the last 3 seasons. He has some strong hurdling form in the book and if he takes to fences, he will be a big player. We’re going to take a chance on Fifty Ball for Gary Moore who trained his 1000th winner this week. A big winner on ITV Racing will be the ideal way to celebrate that achievement. He has already had a run this month over fences, and he finished a very good third on that day, so he will be fit for the race, and we think he will be able to win here today.
Selection – Fifty Ball – 3/1
2:25
Fanion D’Estruval heads the market for this handicap chase and finished fifth in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last season. He got his campaign off to a decent start last month finishing fourth in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, which was won by the very impressive Allmankind. Aidan Coleman rides the second favourite Phoenix Way, who has had a lot of injury problems and has been hard to keep fit. They think an awful lot to him at home and if he can put his problems behind him, he could be very good. We’re going to take a chance on Armour De Nuit who is trained by the champion trainer Paul Nicholls. It’s been a long time since we have seen him jump a fence, but he could be very well handicapped on old form.
Selection – Armour De Nuit – 15/2
3:00
The Long-Distance Hurdle is all about one horse, Paisley Park. If he can reproduce his top form from over a year ago, he will win this with ease. His first run of the season at Wetherby was disappointing, he was struggling down the back straight and got well behind the leaders but stayed on to finish a never nearer third. If Paisley Park doesn’t turn up in that form, then Mrs Milner will be waiting in the wings to pounce. She won the Pertemps Final at the festival last March in great style and was really well-backed on the day. Bryan Cooper is over to ride the mare and they will be a really big test for Paisley Park.
Selection – Paisley Park – 5/2
3:35
We finish the day with a handicap hurdle and quite like the chances of hat-trick seeking Certainly Red for Lydia Richards. Marc Goldstein takes the ride and even though this is a big step up in class, we think they have a decent chance with bottom weight to carry. Fergal O’Brien has been in great form at the start of this season, like he is every year, and he has the favourite in this race Eyeofthescorpion. He has been running well since July, when his season got underway and he could be fairly well-treated here today. It’s a very competitive race and you could give a shout out to a few others like One For You, Saint Sonnet and Dolphin Square.
Selection – Certainly Red – 11/2
Saturday Racing from Newbury
1:15
We kick off the day with a competitive handicap chase and Kalooki heads the market. This will be his first start of the season, but he has some good form coming into the race from last year and is a major player here today. Kapcorse for Paul Nicholls has not been seen since finishing seventh in this race a year ago. He has dropped a lot in the weights since this time last year, so if he can put behind the problems he has had, he could be well handicapped. We’re going to side with Killer Clown, who was second in the Greatwood Gold Cup last March here at Newbury and a repeat of that run, will send him very close in this race.
Selection – Killer Clown– 11/2
1:50
Lecale’s Article is favourite for this handicap hurdle and he looks to have a decent chance. He has only had the 3 runs for Nicky Henderson winning one and placing in the other two. Again, due to the injury to Nico, Tom Cannon takes the ride today. The main danger will be Calva D’Auge for the Nicholls team. He has been on a bit of a role recently winning 4 out of his last 5 starts. He has course form as he won here last year on MansionBet’s Challow Hurdle Day.
Selection – Lecale’s Article – 3/1
2:25
Soaring Glory was very impressive on his first start of the season at Ascot, he also has his regular rider Jonjo O’Neil Jnr back onboard today after recovering from a nasty shoulder injury. This looks like an ideal opportunity for Soaring Glory to extend his winning run. The main danger will be the recent Cheltenham winner, Gowel Road. He will need to find more improvement today to beat the classy Soaring Glory.
Selection – Soaring Glory – Evens
3:00
The feature race of day sees the Irish Champion trainer, Willie Mullins come over with Ontheropes. He has already won the Munster National in Ireland this season, so he should be spot on for this race and a big run has to be expected. The Tizzard team have been in much better form this season, so we’re going to take a chance on Fiddlerontheroof backing up his Carlisle win from last month. Enrilo had the Sandown Gold Cup taken off him last season, but before that he had been running well. He also looks to be well handicapped and could play a major part staying on late in the day.
Selection – Fiddlerontheroof – 5/1
3:35
We finish the day with a handicap chase for the Jim Joel Memorial Trophy and Grey Diamond for Sam Thomas heads the market. I tipped this horse up a few weeks ago when he ran at Ascot and he was going really well, until he hit 2 out and then lost his momentum to finish third, only beaten by 4 lengths. If Sam can sort out his jumping and they put in a clear round, I think he is well-treated. Il Ridoto has only had the one fun for Paul Nicholls finisging third. He his only a four-year-old so he gets a lot of weight from Grey Diamond and is very interesting. There is a lot of experienced chasers in this field, so it will be intriguing to see how he gets on.
Selection – Grey Diamond – 9/2
Racing from Newcastle on Saturday
1:30
We head up to Newcastle for 3 races and the first one to get us underway is a novices’ handicap chase. Valleres for Alan King has been in great form and is a strong favourite here today. We’re going to take a chance on Cooper’s Cross, who is likely to be held up and have a go late on. He won last time out for Sam Coltherd at Sedgefield, just getting up to win on the line and the same sort of run can be expected again.
Selection – Cooper’s Cross – 10/3
2:05
The Rehearsal Chase is always mightily competitive and there is no change this year. The Ferry Master is at the head of the market and he was well-beaten on his first start this season, but that was over 3-miles 5-furlongs. He is back down in trip today and has a good chance, if bouncing back to form. I like the look of Good Boy Bobby, who kept on well to win last time out at Wetherby. He is up in trip here today, but with how well he stayed on last time out, that should be no problem here today.
Selection – Good Boy Bobby – 13/2
3:15
The big race of the day is the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth and we have last year’s excellent winner Epatante back to defend her crown. Our ambassador Aidan Coleman is also back in the saddle and he is very confident of a big run. Aidan was down at Nicky’s on Thursday schooling Epatante and he said she jumped everything perfectly. Her main danger could well be the unbeaten Monmiral, who is trained by Paul Nicholls. Paul has said in the media this week, he would prefer rain to fall and there is a good chance of that on Saturday morning. This is also a big step up for the four-year-old Monmiral, and if he was to beat Epatante, he could be a serious contender for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Selection – Epatante – 11/10
