The Melbourne Cup has become one of the highlights of the international flat racing calendar, with many trainers and owners sending their best flat-staying talent. Willie Mullins, Aidan O’Brien, and Saeed Bin Suroor are all represented with the European challenge looking strong. Godolphin are mob-handed with five entrants in the mix,…
1pt win Ballybolley @4/1, 13:55 Ascot, Saturday
Ascot’s flat season has come to a close but the jumps are back and Saturday’s card at the track if full of old favourites. I like the chances of BALLYBOLLEY in the opening handicap chase as Nigel Twiston-Davies’s gelding gets his preferred good ground and arrives in decent form after two runs…
0.75pt each-way Diego Du Charmil @7/1, 15:00 Ascot, Saturday
Paul Nicholls’s DIEGO DU CHARMIL looks a solid bet at 7/1 in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle after an impressive winning reappearance at Chepstow. He won the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival off a mark of 133 on his British début, and aged four is still very much on the…
1pt win Vibrato Valtat @6/1, 15:50 Aintree, Sunday
A really competitive renewal of the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, a Grade 2 handicap featuring several Grade 1 winners from recent seasons. It’s racing’s equivalent of silly season right now with match fitness anyone’s guess and horses starting their long path towards the spring festivals. Many will be using…
0.5pt win Ceporine @33/1, 15:00 Cheltenham, Saturday
The jumps are back at Cheltenham as The Showcase meeting kicks off the new season, and it’s a treacherous time of year for punters with horses lacking fitness as they return from summers off. There might be a bet in the 15:00 Masterson Holdings Hurdle with the 6/4 favourite Adrien Du…
1pt win Afjaan @9/1, 0.75pts each-way Remarkable @14/1, 16:25 Ascot, Saturday
The Balmoral Handicap finishes off one of the best cards for a Champions Day since it came to Ascot. The race could have been filled twice over with 45 declared, instead only 20 take part. GM Hopkins loves this track and has Ryan Moore booked, so you fancy him to…
QIPCO Champion Stakes A-Z and our selection
The most valuable race on Saturday’s Champions Day card at Ascot is the QIPCO-sponsored Champion Stakes, a ten-furlong Group One with a cool £737k for the winner. This year’s renewal looks a hot one with – bar Postponed – all the major middle-distance names of this season in contention and some…
0.5pt each-way Hit It A Bomb @25/1, 15:10 Ascot, Saturday
Ascot’s QEII is now the richest mile race in Europe and pays its winner £623k, so it’s naturally attracted a star-studded field with all the leading lights of the mile division present bar the now-retired The Gurkha, who won the French Guineas and Sussex Stakes. No one horse has dominated these…
1pt each-way Simple Verse @11/2, 13:25 Ascot, Saturday
The Group-Two British Champions Long Distance Cup kicks off a fantastic Ascot card on Saturday with a star-studded renewal headlined by Ascot Gold Cup-winner and Arc-third Order Of St George for the irrepressible Aidan O’Brien. Odds-on across the board, I think there’s much better value elsewhere in a race featuring plenty of…
1pt ante-post win Shalaa @15/2, 13:20 Ascot, Saturday
Britain’s flat season effectively comes to a close on Saturday as champion jockeys and trainers are officially crowned at Ascot’s Champions Day, which features four Group One races. This year’s card is shaping up to be arguably the best we’ve seen, with so many of the stars of this flat season…