Find all previous Seymour Biz racing previews in his weekly column: Saturday Horse Racing Tips.
Definitely the end of the jumps season this week with the big meeting at Sandown on Saturday where the bet365 Gold Cup is the highlight backed up by a couple of Graded races and a Class 2 hurdle, just a pity about the small fields.
ITV also has cameras at two flat meetings, Haydock and Leicester, and are showing one race from each of these courses. So I have searched through the cards at these three courses to try and find some value and here are my thoughts for this week’s Lucky Fifteen.
1.50 Sandown. Doctor Parnassus
3.00 Sandown. Sceau Royal
3.32 Sandown. Flegmatik
2.05 Haydock. Oh This Is Us
Bet this lucky 15 now on Bet365
The first race on the Sandown card is at 1.50 the bet365 Novices Championship Final Handicap Hurdle where Paul Nicholls’s Knappers Hill has both favouritism and top weight. He was a winner of a couple of races earlier in the season but then struggled when upped in class. He was given an easy task on his latest outing at Newton Abbot last week and comes here a week later to try and follow that up, his weight is a concern.
Dan Skelton has a pair of likely candidates with Boombawn and Doctor Parnassus and the latter looks the better of the two who after two wins earlier this year took his chance in a Grade 1 at the Cheltenham Festival finishing 12 lengths behind the winner.
Jonjo O’Neill’s Head Law has won his last three but this is a step up in class.
Privatory trained by Gary Moore has shown fine form this season but that has been on soft going and he is unlikely to find that here. A case can be made for some of the others but it’s Doctor Parnassus for me.
The bet365 Celebration Chase is at 3.00 and this Grade 1 has a small but quality field led by last year’s winner, Paul Nicholls’s Greaneteen. He came back here to Sandown in September and romped home leaving Nube Negra trailing in his wake. Since then, he has run fifth at Leopardstown but was found to have a graze on his hind leg. He has skipped Cheltenham for this race, he will take all the beating.
Dan Skelton’s Nube Negra finished in front of Greaneteen at Cheltenham last year then returned there in November to cruise home with Rouge Vif 20 lengths back in fourth, this is his first race in 2022.
Alan King’s Sceau Royal looks very interesting after a good effort at Aintree earlier in the month. He loves to race where he can bounce off the top of the ground and is a previous course and distance winner, he can go well here.
At 3.32 the big race of the day is the bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase run over 3m 5f. The first three in last year’s race renew rivalry after that race where Potterman won it in the Stewards Room after Enrilo finished in first place but was deemed to interfere with Kitty’s Light who was promoted to second.
Paul Nicholls’s Enrilo will be out for revenge here but his form has not been good this season.
Alan King’s Potterman had been pulled up in three of his previous four races before tasting victory at Kelso last month. That form does not seem good enough added to that he has plenty of weight.
The hardest done by last year was Christian Williams’s Kitty’s Light who has shown good form in his last two races finishing runner up on both occasions. Last time he was beaten by his stablemate, Win My Wings, at Ayr but he is 19lbs better off here.
Win My Wings has had a tremendous season but I think the handicapper had caught up with now. The Irish have been milking our handicaps all winter and John McConnell sends over Streets Of Doyen to try and continue that run but he was pulled up at Cheltenham last month after his jumping let him down.
Dan Skelton’s Flegmatik comes here on the back of two victories at Kempton. He loves to race on the top of the ground and looks fully able to make this step up in class, I take him to ruin Williams’s party.
Moving north to Haydock for their first flat meeting of the year at 2.05 it is the Great Shevington Handicap, a 7-furlong contest.
John Butler’s Sir Dancealot makes his first appearance on a racecourse for 21 months. He has not won since 2019 and although he is a multiple Group 2 winner, I think he is best watched here.
David O’Meara’s Rhoscolyn had a run earlier in the month. He rattled up a treble early last season and may possibly do the same thing again but his weight looks a factor.
Andrew Balding’s Oo De Lally showed some good form last season but may want softer going.
Richard Hannon’s Oh This Is Us has never looked suited by the a/w and returned to the turf at Newbury this week finishing 7 lengths behind the winner of the Spring Cup. He is a course and distance winner and can go well at a nice price.
At the bottom of the handicap, Alrehb has been running well on the a/w weather for trainer Kevin de Foy and may be placed here, but I will stick with Hannon’s horse.
1.50 Sandown. Doctor Parnassus
3.00 Sandown. Sceau Royal
3.32 Sandown. Flegmatik
2.05 Haydock. Oh This Is Us
Bet this lucky 15 now on Bet365
Related Reading