Saturday’s Horse Racing Preview & Tips- 1st February 2025 – Seymour Biz

saturday horse racing tips and previews from expert tipster seymour biz on everytipFind all previous Seymour Biz racing previews in his weekly column: Saturday Horse Racing Tips.

This week’s two televised meetings at Sandown and Musselburgh show that “The Festival” is not very far away, as many top-class horses will be kept at home in readiness for that.

Sandown does stage the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices Chase, but the turnout is quite disappointing, with Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie looking the best of the four runners.

There are four further races from the Esher track, all of which are handicaps, a Class 1, two Class 2s and a Class 3, so there should be some competitive contests to look forward to.

The other meeting on ITV Racing’s Saturday programme is from Musselburgh, who stage their Scottish equivalent of the Festival with their own Triumph Hurdle, County Hurdle, Champion Chase and Stayers Novice Hurdle.

These races consist of a Listed contest and three Class 2s, so we have six handicaps featured out of the nine TV races, meaning there should be some value. Here are my thoughts and this week’s Lucky Fifteen.

Saturday Lucky Fifteen
1.25 Sandown. Just Lucky Sivola
3.07 Sandown. Idefix de Ciergues
3.42 Sandown. Gustavian
2.50 Musselburgh. Marble Sands
Bet this lucky 15 now on Bet365

Beginning at Sandown with the 1.25, the Virgin Bet Daily Price Boosts Novices Handicap Hurdle. This is a Class 3 race run over 2m 4f. The top weight here is Ben Pauling’s De Kingpin. He has only been out of the frame once in his last five starts. He was only beaten a head in December at Newbury. He deserves a victory, but his weight may be a problem.

Venetia Williams’s Sole Solution was victorious at Hereford two weeks ago but is upped in class here and will find this much tougher.

Gary & Josh Moore have Kalif d’Airy entered after he has run second in his last two outings. However, those were pretty lowly Class 5 contests, and this is much tougher.

Old Time Chaser is Nicky Henderson’s entry. He is still learning his trade, but his run in December at Windsor was an improvement, so he is getting there, and he can go close.

But I prefer Paul Nicholls’s Just Lucky Sivola, who won a Class 4 at Hereford in November. He was then upped in trip in a similarly rated contest at Ascot the following month and was a well beaten third. He drops back down in trip here to return to winning ways.

The 3.07 is the Virgin Bet Heroes Handicap Hurdle, a Class 1, Grade 3, Premier Handicap run over 2m 7 1/2f. There is a highly fancied Irish challenger here in the shape of Shoot First, trained by Charles Byrnes, but he has been saddled with the top weight of 12st, which is 7lbs more than any other runner in the field.

He popped up at Haydock last November to win a similar race at a big price after having his previous run at Galway looked into by the stewards. Since then, he ran poorly at Ascot in a Grade 1 in December.

Jonjo O’Neill won this race last year and runs Red Dirt Road this year. He won a Class 2 at Aintree in December after making all. He won’t have things all his own way this time around.

Anthony Honeyball’s Dartmoor Pirate ran a fine second in a Class 2 at Wincanton on Boxing Day, and a repetition of that form could see him hit the frame once again.

Paul Nicholls’s Henri The Second was a course and distance winner in a Class 2 race in December. He also won a Grade 2 Novice race here at Sandown in 2022 and is expected to make a bold show.

I think Idefix de Ciergues can run a big race for trainer Rebecca Curtis on the strength of his run at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, where he finished runner-up in a Class 2 race, following up a couple of wins at Doncaster and Chepstow in November. The Irish raider has to give Curtis’s horse 26lbs, which seems very unlikely.

The Virgin Bet Masters Handicap Chase is at 3.42. This Class 2 race is run over 3 miles and the top weight is carried by Paul Nicholls’s Gelino Bello. He was a dual winner last season, but on his only run this term at Wincanton on Boxing Day, he was 6th of 10 runners. He should improve for that run but has plenty of weight.

Dan Skelton’s Shan Blue has disappointed so far this season, especially last time at Cheltenham in December when he went off favourite and was beaten 33 lengths. He looks high enough in the weights.

The bookies’ choice is Venetia Williams’s In d’Or, who has won his last two at Taunton in November and most notably at Ascot in January. He steps up in class here and is expected to go well.

Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith run O’Connell, who won twice in December, both Class 3s at Carlisle and Market Rasen. He can step up in class and hit the frame.

Anthony Honeyball deserves some luck after the sad demise of Forward Plan last Saturday at Doncaster, and he has two runners here, Dreaming Blue and Gustavian.

Dreaming Blue won at Ludlow in December then ran 4th at Kempton’s Christmas meeting, but it’s Gustavian that interests me most. He ran third in a Grade 3 at Wincanton in November, then in a similar contest at Newcastle that same month, he made a bad mistake. He was pulled up soon after, and then, last time out at Aintree in December, he was beaten just a neck in the Liverpool fog. He deserves his place in the sun!

Finally, we move across the border to Musselburgh, and the 2.50 is the bet365 Scottish Champion Chase. This is a Class 2 race run over 2m 4 1/2f. Last year’s winner returns for another crack at this prestigious contest. Lucinda Russell’s Corrigeen’s Rock has 9lbs more than last year, and he didn’t jump fluently when pulled up here on New Year’s Day.

Top weight is Donald McCain’s Minella Drama, who won a Grade 2 at Aintree in October but disappointed when pulled up at Huntingdon in early December. He has plenty of weight.

Paul Flynn sends The Big Chap over from Ireland. He has won twice after 11 outings this season and is quite capable of taking this.

Jane Richards’s Saint Segal won a Class 3 at Newbury in December, but this is much tougher.

Nicky Richards’s The Kalooki Kid also won last time out at Doncaster in a similar race. He will also have to be at his very best to figure.

At a big price, I like Stuart Edmonds’s Arizona Cardinal, who won three times at the end of last season, including the Topham at Aintree. He was beaten 16 lengths over the Cross-Country course at Cheltenham in December. He is probably on his way back to Aintree for the Grand National.

My preference, though, is the David Killahena and Graeme McPherson-trained Marble Sands, who won a Listed race at Carlisle in November, then later that month was third in a Grade 3 at Newcastle. Last time out on New Year’s Day, he was second in another Grade 3 at Cheltenham. Connections have had him aimed at this for some time.

Saturday Lucky Fifteen
1.25 Sandown. Just Lucky Sivola
3.07 Sandown. Idefix de Ciergues
3.42 Sandown. Gustavian
2.50 Musselburgh. Marble Sands
Bet this lucky 15 now on Bet365

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