Best bets for Aintree and Sandown

Race Betting Tips: Saturday December 3rd

1pt Sounds Russian in 1.30 Aintree at 7/1 (William Hill)

1pt Five Star Getaway at 2.05 Aintree at 14/1 (Overall)

1pt Male Public in 2.20 Sandown at 8/1 (Overall)

1pt Secret Investor in 1.37 Chepstow at 12/1 (General)

There is a first chance for Randox Grand National contenders to take a look at the big fences of Aintree on Saturday with a field of 25 entered in the Boylesports Becher Handicap Chase.

Given the results of the last two weekends, the bookmakers are taking no chances with Dan Skelton-trained Ashtown Lad, who finished third to Coral Trophy Remastered runner-up over hurdles here a month ago.

This form looks solid with Gericault Roque, 20 lengths behind, taking third place at Newbury this weekend.

His fifth out of 23 in the Scottish National indicates he is being treated reasonably but I think the fences would need to make quite a bit of improvement to consider him well and he surely can’t start much shorter than the 4/1 currently on offer . .

Greater Sefton, which was also raced on this map, could well affect this race with runner-up Gekille looking to run out of real estate there, hoping to score big racing success for Oliver’s new partnership . Greenall and Josh Guerrier who had a good start to the season.

He has already proven that he stays further and could be the type to have a long-standing love affair with these fences. Only the price puts me off.

Anything Willie Mullins races in the UK will always attract attention and his Captain Kangaroo has a great reputation since beating Kilcruit in a Clonmel bumper a few years ago.

He has recently started to deliver on that promise, winning the Cork National last time out and he’s not handicapped by it despite weighing ten pounds. However, form was dropped in Navan on Sunday so that must be a concern.

Last year’s Hill Sixteen runner-up now finds himself nine pounds heavier in the handicap after proving consistent with a fourth-place finish in the Sky Bet Chase and near Nuts Well at Kelso in March. He prepared for it with another solid effort behind Sounds Russian at Kelso in October.

The question is, can he win with that higher rating when he didn’t quite make it last year?

Over the past two years, Christian Williams has established himself as one of the best target coaches around and in FIVE STAR GETAWAY I think he has a well-treated eight-year-old with the right profile for it. He looked set to step up next time when he was tenderly handled shorter at Bangor, seeming to thoroughly enjoy a step back to the three miles he looked so impressive at Kempton last Christmas from a lower mark of only 2 pounds.

His next effort, when he was third behind Le Milos at Sandown, now looks very strong, but I think a flat track suits him better anyway and, although he was pulled in his only effort on these fences in Topham, he may have found an endurance test insufficient. I don’t see Williams aiming for it here if he believed he didn’t like fences and would say the 14/1 on offer is the most attractive bet of the weekend at this point.

Irish Gold Cup winner, Conflated and novice first year winner Ahoy Senor leads the betting for the Boylesports Many Clouds Chase and of the two I much prefer the chances of the former with Ahoy Senor having questions to answer after eating its lines in the Bet365 Charlie Hall in Wetherby.

Gordon Elliott’s charge looked sure to benefit from the outing at Down Royal on his return and a repeat of his efforts at the Dublin Racing Festival makes him the one to beat. However, I don’t know what this form is really worth as it has always been advantageously positioned in a slow affair that wouldn’t have suited runner-up Minella Indo.

So the question is, which of the many rising youngsters could take part in this race like the Protektorat did last year? I came down from the side of RUSSIAN SOUNDSwho has a similar chance to Dusart on Ayr from April and won a nice handicap to Kelso on his reappearance.

That and the fact that Henderson said Dusart wasn’t ready to compete in last week’s Coral Gold Cup leads me to believe stable star Ruth Jefferson could be the one to take advantage of any slippage from the top two registrants. bets. and 7/1 seeks to underestimate it.

At Sandown, we got used to the Betfair Tingle Creek Chase producing one of the highlights of the pre-Christmas racing program and it will be a spectacle if Shishkin, Greeneteen and Edwardstone all show up. However, I couldn’t really spot any value and I prefer to look towards the Betfair Daily Rewards Handicap Hurdle for the final selection.

With Love Envoi winning Harry Fry’s Mares’s Novice Hurdle, there’s value to be had if you think she might just need her reappearance and, with the aforementioned Greenall and Guerriero having two young, rapidly advancing hurdles I like the chances of Homme Public, who took the win at Wetherby last time out and are looking for a hat trick, having signed last season in the same way from Newcastle in March.

He’s taken a while to acclimatize since arriving from France but has always been highly rated and could now be on the verge of revealing his true ability, 10/1 gives us plenty of headroom at this stage.

Be careful, the stable has a similar guy engaged in Les Herbiers but he is also engaged further away in Aintree while PUBLIC MAN just has a weekend commitment.

At Chepstow, potential Welsh National contenders have the chance to claim their right to the Coral Welsh National Trial Handicap Chase where previous winner Secret Reprieve sees a racecourse for only the fourth time since winning.

He’s been out of form since and it would take a monumental effort to win after finishing last at Cheltenham in October, but the one I love, SECRET INVESTOR, has a 650-day absence to overcome.

When last seen, he beat two-time King George winner Clan Des Obeaux in the 2021 Denman Chase, recording an RPR of 167 in the process.

I doubt the absence is a concern coming from the Paul Nicholls yard as he was entered into the 48 hour stage for Charlie Hall before being withdrawn and he has been handed 4 pounds by the handicapper since he was last seen.

Interestingly, this is the same brand from which Nicholls spotted Frodo’s opportunity to win at Wincanton recently and, as a horse that goes fresh, likes better ground and is unbeaten in two races at Chepstow , I think 12/1 is a price we should all take now.

Preview published at 09:30 GMT on 28/11/2022

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