Our form expert has two selections for Saturday's surviving action at Kempton Park.
The Verdict: Saturday January 10
1pt win Boombawn in 14:40 Kempton at 6/1 (Paddy Power, 11/2 General)
1pt e.w. Beat The Bat in 15:17 Kempton at 8/1 (Paddy Power, bet365 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt win Rubber Ball in 15:32 Warwick at 8/1 (ABANDONED)
Get the Bat out in Lanzarote
Hopefully Kempton will beat the weather despite a precautionary inspection Saturday morning and after a week of very little jumps action the offering would be a welcome boost with the 17-runner Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle headlining proceedings.
The ground should still ride like it has ‘Good’ in it despite all the frost and cold weather and the pace on paper looks strong – there are plenty of prominent racers in behind likely frontrunners Goodwin and Came From Nowhere to keep them honest – so class can come to the fore.
It will be interesting to see how Lanesborough and French Ship get on off their new marks and they are respected, but I think if there’s a classy horse who is well treated to beat them it’s Harry Fry’s BEAT THE BAT.
This horse looks well handicapped off 134 on plenty of his back form, while I loved how he travelled on his first go over this 2m5f trip in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival when fourth behind Jimmy Du Seuil.
That was a major hint he’s got a race like this in him and he showed up well at Punchestown over three miles after that, but it’s his second go at this specialist trip that makes him of real interest here.
Lightly raced for his age, he might still have something up his sleeve and he looked on good terms with himself on his chasing debut first time back at Exeter on December 5 over a trip too short for him.
That should’ve put him spot on for this and the Lanzarote has been won by horses coming back from fences on quite a few occasions, including William Henry, Burrows Edge and Jay Jay Reilly in the last seven renewals alone.
Fry’s small Christmas team looked in good nick and he has an excellent 21% strike-rate at Kempton, while I like how this could play out for Beat The Bat if he’s ridden like he was at the Festival; in a prominent position at the head of the second wave.
The Verdict: Back BEAT THE BAT in the 15.17 Kempton
Boom another winner for Skelton?
You very rarely see Dan Skelton having a quiet Saturday and he might give his old boss Paul Nicholls nightmares in the Grade 2 Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase with BOOMBAWN.
Nicholls runs Kalif Du Berlais here but his home reputation is well factored into his odds-on quotes and the reality is he has plenty to prove including over this trip and going right-handed (well beaten over fences at Sandown and Exeter).
He won twice here over hurdles and might be too classy, but at the prices I want to have a go against him and Boombawn is just the sort of horse who can expose any weakness.
The nine-year-old ran in 10 chases as a novice which has given him a great platform to work from and while he is a bit of an inbetweener Skelton has given him every chance of a third fencing success by pointing him here.
This is his perfect trip, ground and track (he’s 1-1-2 at Kempton) and he should be primed for this on his third start of the campaign.
Last time at Huntingdon the ground was too soft for him so you can forget that run, but 2m4f on better conditions, as he showed when close-up behind Impaire Et Passe, Gidleigh Park and Jango Baie in the Manifesto last April, is perfect.
That form is arguably better than anything Kalif Du Berlais has achieved and he looks a good bit of value against the Ditcheat hotpot.
The Verdict: Back BOOMBAWN in the 14.40 Kempton
Ball to get rolling at Warwick (Abandoned)
Finally, Warwick looks up against it with the track still frozen in places and temperatures of -2C forecast in the early hours of the morning, so it all hinges on an 8am inspection.
I haven’t got a strong view on the William Hill Half A Mill Classic Handicap Chase, especially with some fences likely to be omitted, as it’s particularly tricky to predict who will get into a rhythm.
I was intrigued to see Nassalam given a wind op, as Gary Moore hardly ever resorts to that and I can find only seven of his chasers who have had the surgery since records began in 2018.
If the procedure sorts his problems out he could win this at big odds considering he won the 2023 Welsh National off the same mark by 34 lengths, but he obviously comes with a wealth warning after being pulled up on his last four starts.
I’ll swerve the race but if Warwick is on I do want Neil King’s RUBBER BALL (ABANDONED) on my side in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle over 3m1f at 15.32.
This horse could find a chunk of improvement over a staying trip as he’s a 3m point-to-point winner and is related to 3m1f hurdles winner Oscars Way, while he paid for trying to go with all-the-way winner Bear Market at Aintree in December and was probably better than his finishing position of fourth.
He likes soft ground and I think stamina won him the day when he won at Newbury last season, so he looks dead interesting for this test from the bottom of the weights with Brendan Powell taking over in the saddle.
His trainer is no stranger to having winners at this meeting, including the Classic Chase with Milansbar, and he had the 33/1 second when he last had a runner in this race in 2019.
I wouldn’t judge him on his latest start at Aintree where he was outpaced on the day several hurdles were omitted, and the handicapper has given him a real chance dropping him 4lb for that run.
Preview posted at 15:30 GMT on 09/01/26
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