The Sporting Life team provide their free tips for Saturday's action across a range of sports
The Sporting Life team provide their free tips for Saturday's action across a range of sports

Saturday's Bets of the Day: Selections for horse racing, football and golf


Our team pick out their best bets for Saturday's sport, including racing at Lingfield and Taunton, Premier League football, and golf in Abu Dhabi.

Racing

David Ord

Nigel Twiston-Davies decided to send MR ANTOLINI chasing this season but after three starts over the larger obstacles he switches back to timber for the Invest Southwest Seniors' Handicap Hurdle at Taunton.

The ten-year-old won the 2018 Imperial Cup form a mark of 130 and kept very good company thereafter. He reached a peak of 141, finishing fifth in the Betfair Exchange Trophy at Ascot behind Mohaayed, Lisp, Western Ryder and Grand Sancy from that figure.

He races form 135 here, is proven in testing ground and will have the race run to suit. He appeals as well handicapped in the weakest hurdles heat he has contested for some time. He rates a bet.

Richard Mann

Archie Watson continues to go great guns and will be hopeful he holds the key to the Ladbrokes Home Of The Odds Boost Handicap.

In Electric Ladyland, Watson saddles the likely favourite following a ready success at Chelmsford when last sighted back in September.

A pacey sort who was thought good enough to go to Royal Ascot as a two-year-old, the Cable Bay filly now has three wins to her name from nine career starts but, crucially, each of those career victories have come over the minimum distance.

Her prominent racing style and low draw suggests she should be in the firing line from the off again but stepping up to 6f for the first time, I wonder if she might be vulnerable late on if jockey Luke Morris is unable to bargain an uncontested lead.

The defection of stablemate Littledidyouknow robs the race of the only other obvious pace angle in the contest so Electric Ladyland should be the one to catch, though that might just set things up for LITTLE BROWN TROUT.

William Stone's gelded son of Casamento made a winning debut at this track when weaving his way through the eye of a needle before scoring with something in hand under a confident Hollie Doyle just under three weeks ago, and he still has the potential make up into a useful all-weather sprinter.

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Simon Holt

Nicky Henderson's horses have been going well this week and SOUL EMOTION is fancied to provide another winner for the Seven Barrows team in the Matchbook Holloway's Handicap Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday.

This talented French import, who made a mighty impression on his first two starts in this country when twice hacking up at Sandown in the spring of 2018, looks to be returning to his best despite an unfortunate experience here last December when collapsing after the finishing line in the Long Walk Hurdle.

For a few moments, the outlook looked grim for Soul Emotion and doubly upsetting as he had run extremely well in that Grade One race, leading into the home straight and only weakening approaching the last over the three-mile trip before finishing fifth behind such luminaries as Paisley Park, West Approach (having a good day) and Top Notch.

Well beaten after an 11 month lay-off at Newbury in November, Jerry McGrath's mount ran much better on a return to the Berkshire course a month later when third behind two promising types in Dorking Boy and The Wolf who were both receiving a whopping 24lb.

If the unlucky Howling Milan had not fallen at the last that day, Soul Emotion would only have finished fourth but he looked much more like the horse who ran so well on this course just over a year ago, travelling well and jumping impeccably.

For me, he has a touch of class about him and, while last year's winner Ballymoy (just 2lb higher) deserves plenty of respect returning to hurdling and the Paul Nicholls French import Pic D'Orhy remains something of an unknown quantity over here, a big run is on the cards back at Ascot.

Oli Bell

Won this race three times and showed he's no back-number when shaking Defi Du Seuil up in Tingle Creek. Can take revenge in testing ground he loves.

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Football

George Pitts

It's the 'basement batte', a 'relegation six-pointer' to use just a couple of cliches, but this game between the bottom two is a hugely significant one, if not one that people will be lining up to watch on Match of the Day.

NORWICH seem dead and buried at the foot of the table, eight points from safety, and although Bournemouth are a lot closer they've been dropping like a stone and are odds-on themselves to go down as Eddie Howe struggles to keep his head above water.

Just one win in 11 tells the story for Bournemouth, but Norwich have done even worse with just one win in 17 so it's one of those games were you'd back both of them to lose if you could! Two sides devoid of confidence, who have forgotten how to win, usually leads you into thinking draw straight away.

Howe is under real pressure, as although their run of results is bad, their form and performance level is even worse. There was a severe lack of confidence, belief, passion and fight against Watford and another display like that will see them lose at Carrow Road.

Tom Carnduff

It's worth taking the value on offer in the corners market for the Sky Bet Championship's early kick-off.

The Whites continue to see their games have a high corner count, while the same can be said for QPR's fixtures at home.

Their 5-1 victory over Swansea in the FA Cup brought a huge total of 17, while their 6-1 win against Cardiff in the game before saw 14.

Over QPR's last four games at home, their corner average has stood at 13.75. For Leeds, the average stands at 14 across their last four league games away.

It's worth playing to the averages here but with the added safety net in case this contest falls just under. Over 12.5 stands at a best price of 9/4 which is where the best bet can be found.

Golf

Ben Coley

If you're yet to get involved in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, there's no shortage of options at the halfway stage. It's 5/1 the field after Francesco Laporta replaced Matt Fitzpatrick at the top of the leaderboard at the end of a day which saw Brooks Koepka play abysmally in a round of 75.

Our followers have four decent chances in the mix - Sergio Garcia, THOMAS PIETERS, Adri Arnaus and Thomas Detry - and the second-named still looks overpriced at 22/1.

Pieters has made a couple of very on-brand mistakes towards the end of his two rounds so far, but from tee-to-green he's playing world-class golf and I suspect he might light things up at some stage - hopefully as early as Saturday morning.

From just four back of a rookie leader, three behind the favourite, I think his chances of winning here have improved more than the market suggests and he looks the value each-way bet as things stand.

Fitzpatrick and Patrick Cantlay top the market and both should be thereabouts, with the former having been the best player on the European Tour without winning in 2019 and Cantlay lighting up the course on Friday to launch his bid for silverware.

These are world-class operators and in a big-money event like this, it's the likes of Fitzpatrick, Cantlay and Garcia who should emerge as contenders come Sunday. Just don't be surprised if Pieters is right there with them.

NFL

Chiefs (-6.5) & under 52.5 match points at 2/1

We’ve said this the last two weeks, but it looks like the end of the line for Tennessee, they’ve had a memorable run and it certainly wouldn’t be a huge shock now if they were to pull this off and make the Super Bowl.

If they go ahead, then QB Ryan Tannehill can continue his role of merely handing the ball off to Henry, but if they fall behind and he has to try and win it with some big throws that could well be the undoing.

You’ve got to go with Kansas City to make it to Miami.

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