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Saturday’s racing tips
- World Of Fortunes (Doncaster, 2:05pm) – 7/4 William Hill
- Some Scope (Doncaster, 3:15pm) – 11/2 bet365
- The Kniphand (Doncaster, 3:15pm) – 12/1 William Hill
- Norn Iron (Doncaster, 5:07pm) – SP
- Slugger (Kelso, 3:30pm) – 14/1 each-way (1/5 odds, five places) William Hill
- Epinephrine (Newbury, 1:55pm) – 7/4 bet365
- Zertakt (Newbury, 2:30pm) – 6/1 bet365
Slugger (Kelso, 3:30pm) has been a revelation since being switched to the Newbury yard of Harry Derham and the six-year-old could deliver the knockout blow to his rivals in a competitive renewal of the bet365 Morebattle Hurdle.
There is little doubt Derham, who recently smashed through the one million pounds UK prize money barrier in just his third season as a trainer, has swiftly earned a knack of improving horses from other yards.
That has certainly been the case with Slugger, who has rattled up a hat-trick for his new handler, exploiting a mark of 112 in the hands of Paul O’Brien at Carlisle, before smoothly following up under Alice Stevens at Doncaster and Musselburgh.
The handicapper has wreaked a little revenge, raising Slugger to 130, but the selection could still be well treated as he rarely does a great deal when he hits the front, and he already boasts a course and distance victory on his CV. He looks worth taking a chance with at the 14/1 on offer with several betting sites.
Doncaster tips: Some Scope for improvement
The highlight on the Doncaster card is the Grimthorpe Handicap Chase and it could be worth taking a two-pronged approach in trying to locate the winner.
Some Scope (Doncaster, 3:15pm) simply wasn’t quick enough to take a hand in a two-and-a-half mile event on Cheltenham Trials Day but this trip and track should be much more to his liking and he is worth supporting on horse racing betting sites to bounce back to the level of form which saw him impress at Wetherby on Boxing Day.
The Kniphand (Doncaster, 3:15pm) has won three of his four starts on Town Moor and ran a nice audition for this race behind Monbeg Genius at Uttoxeter three weeks ago. He makes some appeal at the double figure odds on betting apps.
Others that take the eye on the card include World Of Fortunes (Doncaster, 2:05pm) in the Mares Listed Novices’ Hurdle and Norn Iron (Doncaster, 5:07pm) in the closing handicap.
The former was noted keeping on gamely at the Dublin Racing Festival and should relish the chance to compete against her own sex once more, while inexperience probably contributed to Norn Iron being beaten at Newbury last time when the winner, Bucephalus (a winner for this column last week), simply exhibited too much nous in the closing stages.
Newbury tips: Watch out for Williams pair
At Newbury, Venetia Williams has bright prospects of a pre-Cheltenham double courtesy of recent Kempton scorer Epinephrine (Newbury, 1:55pm) and Zertakt (Newbury, 2:30pm) who could bring the winning run of Jasmin De Grugy to a halt in the BetVictor Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.
The latter ran well at the Berkshire venue on his penultimate start before failing to handle the sharp turns of Windsor last time. This test should be ideal, and he remains very attractively handicapped.
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