After the thrilling racing at Cheltenham during this week we are back to more ordinary fare this Saturday with seven televised races from Uttoxeter and Kempton. There are three races from Kempton being shown all of which are handicaps, meanwhile the four races from Uttoxeter which are also all handicaps include the Midlands National. So with all seven races having good fields they will provide a great betting medium which not every race at Cheltenham was able to do due to the high class of the horses involved. I have trawled through the cards to look for value and here are my thoughts for this week’s Lucky Fifteen.
Saturday Lucky Fifteen
2.40 Kempton. Dorking Boy
3.15 Kempton. Espoir de Guye
3.00 Uttoxeter. Freedom To Dream
3.35 Uttoxeter. Time To Get Up
Beginning with the 2.40 at Kempton the Virgin Bet Handicap Hurdle. This is a very competitive field with Paul Nicholls’s Calva d’Auge heading the weights, he won here at Kempton over this distance last November but he was well beaten on his next outing later in the month and has not been seen since. Alan King has a couple in this including Jay Bee Why who has been chasing but King says he was not quite up to it so he returns to hurdling. Kings other runner is Chosen Path but this is his first run for three years. Dan Skelton’s Jay Jay Reilly has shown some cracking form this season with two wins and two places and the trainer must feel he is ready for this step up in class. Nicky Henderson runs Falco Blitz who won here in January but he was tailed off last month at Warwick. Dorking Boy is worth a mention in the bottom of the handicap, who after winning at Taunton in January has just been held in his last two outings, he can go one better here.
The Virgin Bet Handicap Chase is at 3.15 and I am looking forward to seeing Venetia Williams’s Espoir de Guye. The trainer is having a great Cheltenham and the stable is really firing and the good work can continue with this classy individual who won at Warwick last month, his first run of the season. He is being prepared for a busy spring and can continue the good work here. Jeremy Scott’s Native Robin is looking for his fifth win of the season and for as good as that form looks his wins seem to come at Fontwell and Wincanton he doesn’t seem to do so well when taken out of his comfort zone. Paul Nicholls’s Diego de Charmil has been winning Grade 1’s and Listed races but he is a 10-year-old now and his form is going backwards plus he has plenty of weight. Killer Clown won for Emma Lavelle in January but was pulled up at Ascot later in the month, he can return after a break to be placed here.
Moving north to Uttoxeter, the 3.00 is the Optimum Pay Handicap Hurdle. One of the top weights here is Dan Skelton’s Ch’tibello , a previous winner in Graded company but those days are long gone and he hasn’t won for three years, I really can’t see him breaking his duck here. Also up there with top weight is Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Beauport who has been runner up three times this season including in a Graded race last time, he will go close again. Pam Sly’s Haafapiece has chalked up a couple of wins at Wetherby this season but his latest outing was here at Kempton where he finished 7th beaten 8 lengths. But we have two Irish raiders in the field and the way they have been milking our handicaps this season I think the winner will come from this pair. John Hanlon runs Teescomponentsyess who won at Limerick in December and has been just out of the frame twice since. But I prefer Peter Fahey’s Freedom To Dream who won in November at Punchestown, then ran second at Limerick, his trainer then thought he should try him in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown but he was well beaten he drops down in class here and is my choice.
The big race in Uttoxeter’s season is the Boulton Group Midlands Grand National run over a gruelling 4m 2f and it has attracted a cracking field including two previous winners. Paul Nicholls’s Truckers Lodge won this in 2020 and returns for another try but he hasn’t won since he did however show some good form when finishing third at Ascot last time out. Last year’s winner was Jonjo O’Neill’s Time To Get Up and his season has been geared towards this race again, he was third last month at Haydock in preparation for this and can be successful again. There are four Irish entries the best of which could be William Durian’s Screaming Colours who has not run since October when he was second at Cork on heavy ground, last year he ran fourth in this and is back for another try. As an outsider I like David Pipe’s Gwencily Berbas who won at Exeter in December over nearly 4 miles, he can be placed at a nice price, but it’s Time To Get Up to repeat last year’s victory.
Saturday Lucky Fifteen
2.40 Kempton. Dorking Boy
3.15 Kempton. Espoir de Guye
3.00 Uttoxeter. Freedom To Dream
3.35 Uttoxeter. Time To Get Up
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