The Weekend Wager: Check out the best bets for Ascot and Haydock from Raceolly
Fresh from tipping up 20/1 Betfair Hurdle winner Glory And Fortune last weekend, Raceolly is back for the latest instalment of The Weekend Wager, and this weekend he has picked out his best bets from Ascot and Haydock...
14:25 Ascot - greatbritishstallionshowcase.co.uk Swinley Chase
After a good show for us in the Peter Marsh a few weeks back I’ve stuck my hat on FORTESCUE again at double figured odds. His form figures on soft ground and over three miles now reads 121129123 and going down by three lengths behind Cheltenham Gold Cup hope Royale Pagaille is no disgrace despite the weight difference and Fortescue runs here off the same mark. The presence of Fiddlerontheroof means he runs off a nice racing weight of 10st 12lbs here and Henry Daly has been doing well in handicaps this season boasting a 18% win rate (12 winners from 66 runners).
Fortescue
14:40 Haydock - William Hill Grand National Trial Handicap Chase
Haydock and BRISTOL DE MAI have a successful history together with his form at the track reading 111121P, with only one of them coming in a handicap and that was a win off a mark of 154 in 2017. He ran a massive race at Lingfield last month when going down by under a length to Two For Gold and Dashel Drasher to get him back on track after back-to-back pulled up efforts, although they came in a Grand National and when battling with Royale Pagaille for a long way in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase. Other than the Grand National, which can be easily excused, he hasn’t run in a handicap since winning here in 2017 off 154 and has won three Grade 1s and a Grade 2 since, so a mark of 159 is decent and still only 11 years old. His form on soft or worse reads 1321121311632123, the majority of them graded races and the Haydock runs reading 1111.
Bristol De Mai
15:00 Ascot - Dingley's Promise Handicap Hurdle
Christopher Wood is interesting on his first start for Venetia Williams here, but it’s the Kerry Lee-trained BALLYBEGG that caught my eye. Conditions will be perfect for Ballybegg who returned to form when switched back to hurdles last time at Uttoxeter and the fitting of blinkers. His hurdle form on soft or worse reads 2112, and his only finish out of the top three over hurdles came after a change of tactics at the Grand National meeting at Aintree last year. The booking of a 10lb claimer is interesting putting the horse off a mark of 125 essentially which would be his lowest handicap mark to date. Jockey Daire McConville has had 12 rides this season for three wins and two places, a nice 25% win rate and looks a great choice for a 10lb claimer.
