ITV Racing Tips: Fighting Fifth and Coral Gold Cup Picks on Bumper Saturday

One of the best Saturdays in recent memory is almost upon us, and whether you are all about speedy hurdlers or big field handicaps you will be happy. The Fighting Fifth is as star studded as a race outside of Cheltenham can be, while the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury looks an epic renewal.

Billy Grimshaw has picks in both features to complete his Saturday ITV Racing Tips piece, which finished in profit last weekend thanks to two winners from three in Jango Baie & Grey Dawning...

14:00 Newcastle - Fighting Fifth Hurdle

No tiptoeing around in more modest races, let's kick off with a bang shall we. CONSTITUTION HILL is going to win the Fighting Fifth, and he's going to do it in style. Okay, granted, we have all heard connections of star horses over the years explain away their bad performances or even seasons, pleading to anyone that'll listen that the horse really is back to the best they've seen. However, while some connections are best dismissed due to their tendencies for the hyperbolic, Nicky Henderson is perhaps peerless in terms of getting the elite horses back to their glorious peak.

Sprinter Sacre of course is the name that springs to mind first, and if Henderson can mastermind the return to form and good jumping of Constitution Hill given how chaotic his 2024/25 season was, it'll be one of his greatest feats. I certainly don't feel like one, but in horse racing terms I am still a whippersnapper at thirty and so did not see the greats of the nineties or fully comprehend those of the early noughties, but i am in no doubt what this horse did particularly in his Supreme but also in his Champion Hurdle season makes me think he is the greatest to ever do it.

We know that with every horse here running to their best number, Constitution Hill would destroy them. That is assuming, which I think it is safe to do, that The New Lion is not about to break the stopwatches with a rapid win here. We may never see peak Constitution Hill again but given it took The New Lion every inch at Cheltenham to see off The Yellow Clay and Final Demand, and those horses are being campaigned as stayers, I just cannot see the Skelton star having the pace to live with the Seven Barrows jet.

Obviously we are taking a lot on trust here and I am fully aware this bet could be over at any point if Constitution Hill is as careless over his obstacles as he was last season, but at 15/8 he has to be a bet to beat The New Lion over this fast two miles on decent ground. Anzadam is the Irish representative in the race this time and could well stake his Champion Hurdle claims with a win, however for all he is talented and may have the speed for second, we have seen nothing to say he can live with a 75% Constitution Hill.

I think we will see The New Lion outpaced, Anzadam dismissed a la Mystical Power by another Seven Barrows star Sir Gino in this race last season, and the rest blown out of the water. Have a little faith.

14:55 Newbury - Coral Gold Cup

The 2025 Coral Gold Cup looks absolutely stacked, a renewal to rival any from yesteryear when the race was known for so long as the Hennessy. The only place to start, however is with the one horse who looks capable of turning it into a precession should he live up to the hype. Described as 'a bit of a freak' by trainer Lucinda Russell in recent weeks and with this the long term plan since his romp to Ultima glory, when backed like defeat was out of the question from a featherweight, Myretown could emerge as Cheltenham Gold Cup material.

We know what he will attempt to do, as so many from Russell and Scudamore do; he front runs and tries to take the sting out of the rest of the field. 142 is tougher than the 127 he had to contend with in March, but is by no means an insurmountable task for a horse with such lofty ambitions. I am reluctant to rule him out, but if you do fancy him, I'd urge you to just go win only as he looks the type to me who will either dominate and win, or be taken on and sulk a touch. 

Something that is hard to explain to non-racing folk is that one horse can be a better win bet and another a better each-way play and a horse riddled with seconditis The Changing Man certainly falls into the latter category. I'd much rather back him each-way than win only, in comparison to today's favourite who beat him into second at Cheltenham, as he always runs his race and you know he will be there or thereabouts.

This is such a hot race though I would not be in a rush to back him at single figures considering he could run a screamer and finish one outside the frame, with the same being true for dour stayer Resplendent Grey, who will relish if Myretown makes stamina the name of the game but could be vulnerable on the ground to one with more boot at the finish. There are genuinely too many dangers to mention them all and I would put no one off whatever they fancy in a race this deep, though THREE CARD BRAG is a horse I've always fancied to win a big one like this and although he is burdened with a big weight to carry following his Cheltenham success last time out, I fancy him to be right in the mix at around 20/1.

Stamina is his middle name and as such should the front runners make this a test he will be staying on and fighting when others are crying enough, and I do think this is a horse with potential to compete in graded staying chases so will be my selection at huge odds.