There are two more Premier Racedays to enjoy live this Saturday, one at Newbury and the other at Newcastle which hosts Fighting Fifth Hurdle Day. ITV is showing six live races in all, one of which we’re betting in for our big Saturday double.
It’s all about the jumps this weekend as the Flat takes a small break. The weather is warming back up and is set fair on Saturday, so there should be no problems with postponements and the like.
There is to be no Constitution Hill in the Fighting Fifth. That ship has sailed, and people are suspicious after a major betting drift occurred before his underwhelming gallop at Newbury recently. The Henderson stable has an able substitute however and there’s plenty more action on offer.
What we’re looking for here is a big racing double to light up our Saturday. We’re not looking to take a chance on outsiders, nor are we backing odds-on shots blindly in singles. We have picked out two rock-solid contenders to double up and give us some Saturday value.
1.15 Newbury (Novices’ Hurdle – Class 3)
Sky Sport Racing has coverage of this extended 2½-mile novices’ hurdle at Newbury, with Nicky Henderson training the favourite. We hope he can land an across-the-card double.
Silver Thorn may improve past French Ship, but they look some way behind Dan Skelton’s The New Lion and Henderson’s Califet En Vol.
The New Lion won easily enough on his hurdle debut, but even that performance was outdone by Califet En Vol’s opening effort at Kempton. There, he scored a 15-length win in a hack canter and natural improvement from race one to race two makes him very hard to beat. James Bowen rides.
2.10 Newcastle (Fighting Fifth Hurdle – Grade 1)
The Coral Gold Cup at Newbury is the biggest betting race of the day, but the top quality is undoubtedly on show at Gosforth Park in the two-mile Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
The race is live on Sky Sports Racing and ITV, the favourite being Sir Gino who left Constitution Hill behind in their recent Newbury gallop. He is also the hurdler who routed Burdett Road et al in the Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham back in January.
The unbeaten four-year-old could be something special and he has since moved up another notch after winning at Grade 1 level at Aintree in April. We know from his public racecourse gallop that he’s fit and well, so we should see him at his best here.
Nico de Boinville’s mount is a solid 11/10 shot at the timing of writing, but it’s possible he should be odds-on. We’re attempting to take advantage of the presence of a rare Willie Mullins runner at Newcastle who could be keeping the selection at a value price.
Mystical Power is a good horse too but on all known form, as well as taking likely progression into account, it would be disappointing if Sir Gino couldn’t take care of him as well as the likes of Brentford Hope and Lump Sum.
Bet: Califet En Vol (1.15 Newbury) & Sir Gino (2.10 Newcastle), win double.