After the incredibly high quality racing around the festive period it’s no real surprise that this weekend is a little quieter. However, there is still more than enough for racing fans to get their teeth stuck into with the cards at Sandown and Wincanton. With a return to work and normality looming for many across the country a good weekend of racing may be just the ticket to ease the January blues too.
The big race of Saturday is the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle. It is worthy of serious consideration but is just one of seven races covered live by ITV Racing which we have previewed for you below in our Saturday racing tips.
Sandown Park
Saturday’s card at Sandown is named after the big Grade 1 contest taking place. Unibet Tolworth Hurdle Day features seven races in total, the last four of which will be broadcast on ITV 4.
Save for a bit of rain on Thursday night, conditions have been much drier of late at Sandown but the going remains soft which will make life that bit trickier for the horses and jockeys competing.
1:50pm New Unibet Uniboost Handicap
The first ITV race from Sandown comes in the form of the New Unibet Uniboost Handicap. This 1m7½f steeplechase is a Class 2 handicap open to horses aged five and older with an official rating of 145 or under.
The betting currently has four horses available at 4/1 or shorter but it’s one just outside of those given top billing by the market who warrants respect. Delire D’Estruval has made just one performance so far this season but incoming winning form has not proven to be particularly helpful in recent renewals of this one.
The trends show that a chase win over at least 2m is important. Delire D’Estruval ticks that box and should improve from his run just before Christmas. He also represents the Ben Pauling yard who are in cracking form at the moment, so take the favourites on with Delire D’Estruval who can show his class at more rewarding odds of 9/2 with Coral.
2:25pm Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle
The Tolworth Hurdle has an impressive list of recent winners, many of whom went on to become serious players at the same year’s Cheltenham Festival. There are some potentially high class horses in this year’s renewal of the Tolworth but the bookies are struggling to find a clear favourite. Fiddlerontheroof (2/1 with BetVictor), gets the slight nod ahead of Son Of Camas (9/4 with bet365) and Hang In There (3/1 with Betfair).
Only two winners from the last 15 renewals of the Tolworth Hurdle went in at a bigger price than 5/1 which suggests it will pay to concentrate on the shortest priced trio. Indeed, it may be as simple as backing the narrow favourite.
After getting beaten by some high class horses in his first two races of the season, he won comfortably last time out on heavy ground at Sandown. We fancy things are coming together nicely and Fiddlerontheroof is ready to win again on his return to Sandown.
3:00pm Unibet Veterans’ Handicap
The Unibet Veterans’ Handicap is the final of the 2019 Veterans’ Series. Obviously taking place in 2020, of course, logically! The series has proven to be a very popular addition with racing fans and the final won’t let punters and lovers of the sport down. This 3m handicap chase is open to horses aged 10 and older who have already started in one of the series’ previous races. There are big names everywhere you look in the field and plenty of exciting betting options.
The first horse to focus on is Dark Flame at odds of 7/1 with bet365. He ran an excellent race when just beaten by Houblon Des Obeaux (for whom this race is dedicated to) last time out and should have another big effort from down the bottom of the weights. At the other end of the weights, Vieux Lion Rouge looks well priced at 14/1 with Coral and is worthy of each way consideration. David Pipe’s 11-year-old has run in some of the biggest handicaps around and can grind out a place even if a win proves to be just beyond him.
3:35pm – Read Nico De Boinville’s Unibet Blog Handicap Hurdle
The Sandown card comes to an end with the Read Nico De Boinville’s Unibet Blog Handicap Hurdle. This 2m contest is open to horses with a maximum official rating of 145 and has attracted a decent sized field with 13 set to go to post.
It’s not often you get a race with one of the jockeys in the name and Nico De Boinville even has a chance of winning this on board the favourite, Gunnery. Whether his blog is worth reading or not we won’t say but his ride here appears well treated by the handicapper and is a fair price at 5/2 with BetVictor. Those looking for a longer priced option should consider Smarty Wild who has every chance at 11/2 with bet365.
Wincanton
Clan Des Obeaux is one of the big draws at Wincanton on Saturday. The King George winner will be paraded during the card but punters will keep their eyes trained on the action on Newcomers Day.
In total, three races will be shown live by the ITV Racing cameras. They’re all handicaps, with each providing some real opportunity in the betting.
2:05pm Download The Boylesports App Handicap Chase
We begin with the first ever running of the Download The Boylesports App Handicap Chase. There is no race history to help with the profiling of a winner but there is one horse who stands out as a potentially very good bet.
Vinnie The Hoodie is still learning the ropes as a chaser and the early stages of his career over fences haven’t exactly gone to plan. After a decent first run he unseated his rider at Kempton and the six-year-old was then unable to win from the front as was the plan last time out at Doncaster. Those experiences will be nothing but positive for Vinnie The Hoodie though and he could have what it takes to win against this calibre of opposition at 7/1 with bet365.
2:40pm Boylesports This Is Betting Handicap
There’s another handicap, this time over hurdles, next up at Wincanton. The Boylesports This Is Betting Handicap was oversubscribed just a couple of days ago so punters have a lot of choice for this 2m5½f race. 8/1 is the longest priced winner in the short history of this race with last year’s contest going the way of the favourite.
Maypole Class is a fairly weak option at the head of the betting as Jonjo O’Neill looks to win this race in consecutive years. The one to have on side, however, is Rootless Tree at 8/1 with bet365. This is a big step up in trip for him but the strength of his first win over hurdles last time out at Leicester has convinced Nigel Twiston-Davies and his team that Rootless Tree has a future as a long distance hurdler. The improvement from his first hurdle race to his second was huge and if he improves anything like as much again 8/1 will prove to be a very good price indeed.
3:15pm Boylesports Handicap
The hat-trick of handicaps is completed with the 2m4f Boylesports Hurdle. This Class 2 chase has a little more history than the two races that precede it so if you like a trend there is more to go on. The stats show that a certain amount of incoming form is important and that horses aged seven, eight and nine should be favoured. Those from the top of the weights have generally struggled but the hugely popular Big Fella Thanks did win when carrying 11st 12lb in 2013.
The Boylesports Handicap has a very competitive betting market with Valdez the favourite at a general price of 7/2. Catamaran Du Seuil is a much more tempting option in our opinion at double the odds (7/1) with bet365 though. Dr Richard Newland’s eight-year-old only has 10st 9lb to carry despite doing his best work over 2½m and being well suited to the soft ground, so snap that price up while it lasts.