ITV Racing Tips: Saturday Best Bets From Haydock & Ascot

Both Ascot and Haydock host epic afternoons of racing on Saturday, with the 1965 Chase in Berkshire and Betfair Chase on Merseyside the feature races. Billy Grimshaw has picks in both big races as well as a bonus selection here in his ITV Racing Tips...

13:30 Ascot - 1965 Chase

A rare opportunity here for me to make a case for a selection and get the trumpet out. Last season's King George panned out exactly as I called it, with Il Est Francais taking plenty of horses out of their comfort zones before being reeled in by one who had the necessary speed to keep up and eventually get by in Banbridge. While this race is over a shorter trip than the King George, it is at a more testing track and I can see something similar unfolding here, so my Saturday NAP has to be the 2025 Arkle winner who came and picked them all up late that day at Cheltenham over 2m off a strong pace, JANGO BAIE.

I am cursing not backing him earlier in the week as he was an unconfirmed runner and around 11/2 or bigger in places, but his price now of 5/2 is more than fair considering how well this race should be run to suit. Il Est Francais is favourite and could well break the hearts of the reigning champion and Ascot specialist Pic D'Orhy and the talented but fragile Gidleigh Park if they try to keep up with him on the front end. This would be perfect for backers of a hold up horse like Nicky Henderson's charge.

We know from his two Kempton performances that Il Est Francais is at his most deadly front-running at a manic pace, but his bleeding and inconsistent record means I am more than happy to take him on. Couple that with the memory of Banbridge looming up beside him in the King George and him wilting like a dying flower and I love everything about Jango Baie for this contest.

His Arkle win was a surprise to many, with Majborough such a short price that day, but he was a worthy winner and the form has already been boosted this season with the fourth L'Eau De Sud beating Jonbon last weekend. Jango Baie really should have won his race prior to the Arkle but made a mistake which cost him at the last and he lost nothing in defeat to the very smart and fresh Impaire Et Passe for a white-hot Willie Mullins at Aintree, especially as he finished lame.

I can see Nicky Henderson's runner developing this season into the chief threat to the monstrous Fact To File - good luck with that - in the Ryanair division and he can take this race en route to a fruitful season on the march to March's big dance.

15:00 Haydock - Betfair Chase

There is a nagging voice in my head that is insisting 15/2 is a mental price for the reigning champion with the ground potentially going his way again, but surely Royale Pagaille has to be caught by father time soon. I'm not particularly worried by his trainer Venetia Williams being on the cold list as her graded performers and handicappers are often on completely different waves of form, but I am just ten miles from Haydock right now and although it is positively Baltic, the sun is shining. I know it takes just a splash to turn heavy at Haydock, but if the ground is merely soft or better I cannot see the eleven year old being competitive here even at a track he loves so much.

The horse he beat into second last year in an absolute war GREY DAWNING is back for vengeance for the champion elect Dan Skelton and with this dashing chaser a year older and wiser, his handler's form at present and the ground coming up more raceable, he rates a fair bet at anything odds-against. Last season's race seemed to bottom him truth be told, with Skelton saying he'd have a long break post Haydock before backtracking, sending him to the King George and then bemoaning his impatience as the horse ran a stinker.

He had been thought of as a Gold Cup hopeful in 2024/25 but was wisely given a less stiff task on reappearance at Kelso in March after the King George flop where he got a confidence boosting win, and he again ran well to finish second in the Aintree Bowl to wrap his season up. There was no shame in losing to a fresh Gaelic Warrior that day and on ratings he is well clear in this field.

I can't see the sole Irish raider Stellar Story getting involved and while Haiti Couleurs and Sean Bowen are a match made in heaven, I think they'd need the heavens to open to again make this a slog all about stamina to compete with the favourite. The horse I am most worried about is the youngster in the field at six, Handstands for Ben Pauling. I think this lad has bundles of ability and a great attitude to boot, and with The Jukebox Man the more high profile promising chaser in the yard he goes under the radar a touch. With race fitness on his side, he can chase Grey Dawning home providing the ground doesn't become heavy, before being seen to best effect down the line over the intermediate trip rather than 3m1f here.

15:15 Ascot

Any race with Sans Bruit in becomes a bit easier to analyse as we know exactly what he will do, regardless of if it's Harry Cobden, Bryony Frost or anyone else in the plate. He's going to the front, he's going hard and is issuing a catch me if you can challenge.to the rest of the field. The reason he's the outsider of the field here, however, is that more often than not recently nearly all in the field have succeeded in catching him! I'd be uneasy about letting him get too far clear considering Ascot can favour a sole front runner with its short run-in over obstacles, but there are enough canny riders in here who will keep him within their sights.

Teddy Blue has always had talent but has not always had the temperament to match, however Harry Derham seems to have found the key to him recently and he was certainly impressive last time out in a facile success, jumping like a buck and sticking to the task with more relish than we've seen in some time. He must still have a few pounds in hand of the handicapper, however with his inconsistent profile I couldn't back him in a race this competitive at around 4/1. Martator is another I wouldn't touch with a barge pole at the prices given Venetia Williams; shocking record so far this season with her handicappers, while Boothill although a two time winner of this race and a lover of Ascot is ten now and carries top weight, so must be susceptible to something improving past him.

JPR ONE is a horse I have always liked and with Joe Tizzard flying along at a 30% win-rate, including a brilliant Cheltenham November Meeting last weekend, I am going to chance him at around the 5/1 mark in here and forgive his lacklustre Haldon Gold Cup defence first time out. The trainer was in nowhere near as hot form then and insisted JPR One would come on bundles for the run, so with cheekpieces applied for the first time and a strong front runner to chase, I think this could be another big Saturday success for Team Tizz.