ITV Racing Tips: Three Saturday Fancies From Cheltenham & Doncaster

Saturday’s ITV Racing offering comes from Cheltenham and Doncaster and while it may not be the most vintage Cheltenham Saturday, there are still plenty with chances worth getting stuck into. Billy Grimshaw makes the case for three here...

13:50 Cheltenham - Support The Hunt Family Fund December Gold Cup

Credit where it’s due, the Cheltenham clerks deserve praise for moving Saturday’s feature race forward on the card, sidestepping the perennial low-sun issues that can plague the latter part of the afternoon. The contest itself looks as fiendishly tricky as ever, with plenty of confident opinions flying around, but one horse I feel is being overlooked slightly is Jamie Snowden’s COLONEL HARRY.

His Grand Sefton success does not appear to carry the same weight in the market as placed form in the Paddy Power Gold Cup here last month, with Hoe Joly Smoke and Vincenzo notably shorter. That is understandable to a degree, especially given the Paddy Power winner went on to bolt up in the Coral Gold Cup, but I was still very taken by Colonel Harry at Aintree. Cheltenham course form always matters, of course, yet it’s not as though he has disgraced himself here before, and the presence of stablemate GA Law, who may well run his race but looks primarily deployed to help the cause and keep the weights in check, suggests this has been a long-term target.

Colonel Harry is versatile tactically, and I would love to see Gavin Sheehan keep him handy in mid-division given the abundance of pace on offer. Il Ridoto is one I expect to crack on, and I still struggle to believe he is only eight such is his body of Cheltenham form. This trip looks ideal for him and he could be a serious each-way player, but attempting to dominate from the front will not be straightforward with Jagwar, Imperial Saint and others unlikely to give him an easy time.

There is pace everywhere you look, which should suit Colonel Harry nicely, even if it also brings a few rivals into the equation. As dull as it sounds, Jagwar is the obvious danger. The G&G team have yet to fully catch fire this season, but he looks a graded horse hiding in a handicap and his Plate win off a much lower mark still stands out. The fly in the ointment could be Joseph O’Brien’s Kim Roque. This five year old is lightly weighted and may look outclassed on bare form, but his recent Cheltenham run had the feel of a prep, and any market confidence would be hard to ignore.

14:25 Cheltenham

There are some old favourites in here, with JPR One, Triple Trade and Sans Bruit all horses I have backed with varying degrees of success over the years. The latter often makes the race a more winnable proposition for horses like Triple Trade as he is an out and out front runner and while he is only seven, he has looked regressive of late and does too much too soon nowadays. 141 looks a tough proposition, even with Jay Tidball taking five pounds off.

JPR One is always there or thereabouts and I could put no one off backing him each-way if you do like him, but for me I think top weight in here could blunt him enough to make victory unlikely. Triple Trade is a stablemate and another I could see hitting the minor honours, but I do believe one of the younger crowd will improve past the old guard in here. The place to start is with favourite David's Well, who could be thrown in off just 128 and with Harry Cobden a very eye-catching booking. The market has not missed him at 5/2, however, so he can also be skipped.

Jane Williams is flying along of late and her EXCELERO should not be double the price of the favourite in here. If he reproduces his Warwick form when romping to a 9 length success last time out he will be the one to beat in my eyes and I am delighted to see that off the same mark as the market leader the odds compilers seem to think he is so far off in terms of ability. I can see the gap between the two contracting so if you fancy him, back him early is my suggestion. Warwick is an easier, flatter track than Cheltenham and he won't get it all his own way so easy out in front here, but I loved what I saw particularly after the last that day and if he's in similar or - we can dream - even better form here it'll take a fine animal to beat him.

A horse I don't fancy here but do think is worth adding to whatever tracker you use is Country Mile for the Skeltons. I can see him running a nice race here for maybe third or fourth, staying on eye-catchingly, before running huge in an intermediate distance spring handicap.

15:17 Doncaster

There are three races from Town Moor set to be shown on ITV and I would be surprised if the favourites don't win the first two, but this last one is a much more intriguing betting proposition. I think Bowmore is short enough at 9/4 for Charlie Longsdon off top weight and while a seven pound claimer will certainly help in that regard, he got an easy lead and nothing got involved off a slow pace last time out so I don't trust that win. With Amancio also in the field here and a definite front runner, he is an easy avoid at the odds.

I'd have Lanesborough closer in the odds grids despite his near 300 day lay off - Ben Pauling does well with horses like this returning from an absence - and his win at Warwick last September worked out quite well. With the absence, however, I wasn't in a rush to take sub 4/1 and my eye was drawn to the stable switcher WILLIETHEBUILDER. Formerly with Dan Skelton and now running for Christian Williams, this is a horse that was thought of as very smart in his novice days and now still only six could be heading back in the right direction.

His first run for his new yard was a damp squib, finishing last of six off top weight at Wetherby when patently not staying the near 2m4f trip. Back at the minimum he was much more like his old self when a 2L third at Windsor, with the line perhaps coming a little soon as he was ridden right out the back and had a tough job to catch those who had got away on the front end.

Hopefully Jack Tudor makes more use of him here and if he does he should be right in the mix. I'll be backing him each-way in case he is once again ridden too cold, but I am optimistic he can win. Washington is another on my radar for Harry Derham as he looked to blow his chance early last time out, but put a line through that he would be shorter here.