Sky Sports Racing's Alex Hammond previews Friday and Saturday's cards at Ascot where she'll be hosting a superb two days of racing from the parade ring.
We are in for a real pre-Christmas treat with Ascot’s December Racing Weekend on Friday and Saturday, not least because for the first time since Covid struck, there will be a limited crowd at the track, bringing back some much welcome atmosphere. Having used two ‘C’ words in the first paragraph, I’ll try and limit them for the rest of your read; certainly the second one!
So, Ascot open their doors on Friday and you’ll be able to watch all the races over the two days with us on Sky Sports Racing, or maybe I’ll see you (from a distance) at the track. There’s much to look forward to.
On Friday we have a potential star lining up in the Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle, one of two Grade 2 races on day one of the fixture.
If Dusart can be anywhere near as talented as his half-brother Simonsig he’ll be making his mark on our sport. Dual Cheltenham Festival winner Simonsig only had two starts at Ascot, one over hurdles and one over fences, and he won both of them.
The fact that trainer Nicky Henderson started Dusart off in a decent novices’ hurdle at Newbury and wasn’t afraid to take on smart bumper performer Soaring Glory, tells you plenty about how highly he regards his five year-old.
The race threatened to become a less than ideal debut for this smart youngster with none of the jockeys keen to make the running early on. He was entitled to be keen with the early crawl, but settled beautifully and jumped incredibly proficiently for Nico De Boinville, who ensured he had a lovely experience on his racecourse debut.
John Hunt in commentary said it was the “perfect start” for this novice and you couldn’t argue with that sentiment. Soaring Glory is amongst Friday’s entries once again and it won’t be a walkover by any stretch of the imagination looking at the entries, but I hope to see this lovely young horse continue his education and win again, en route to some prestigious prizes later on in his career.
He’s 11/8 favourite with the sponsors for Friday’s race and 14/1 for the Sky Bet Supreme at the Festival in March and 20/1 for the Ballymore (a race his older brother won).
The other Grade 2 on Friday is the novices’ chase where Fiddlerontheroof is Sky Bet’s 2/1 favourite.
I love this horse, but can’t help but have reservations owing to the fluctuating form of trainer Colin Tizzard’s horses. The yard just can’t find a consistent run of form at the moment which is really disappointing for the talented team, so it would be wonderful for this horse to give them a timely shot in the arm.
The rain that is forecast will definitely be in his favour, but I can’t select him with any confidence. I don’t want to rub salt into the wound, but a trainer that inflicted a fairly high profile defeat on team Tizzard is Evan Williams, who sent out Bold Plan to beat The Big Breakaway at Exeter earlier this month.
Bold Plan is also amongst Friday’s entries and it could be that he is going to be a better horse now he has gone chasing. He won his only start in an Irish point-to-point as a four-year-old and as a result commanded a hefty price tag at the sales (£195,000) and at 4/1 he looks a bit more appealing for his in-form stable.
I’m looking forward to being at Ascot on Saturday to see the feature Long Walk Hurdle. You may remember last year’s meeting was only given the go-ahead at the 11th hour after two inspections which resulted with the late withdrawal of favourite Paisley Park.
Well, there is significant rain forecast again this week, but Ascot’s clerk of the course Chris Stickles doesn’t expect the ground to be as testing as it was 12 months ago.
Paisley’s trainer Emma Lavelle doesn’t have the same reservations as she did last year with her star performer having a clearer run up to the race, which is great news.
The World’s End took advantage of his absence last year, beating L’Ami Serge and the former could have his first start for trainer Olly Murphy, who has bounced back to form recently after a slow start to the season by his high standards.
This race though is very much a rematch, with the young pretender Thyme Hill throwing down another challenge to Paisley Park after he beat the star stayer in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury last time out.
The youngster was getting 3lb off Paisley Park that day and off levels on Saturday I fancy Lavelle’s horse to turn that around. It’s a close run thing in the market with Thyme Hill Sky Bet’s 7/4 favourite and Paisley Park 15/8 next best.
The most intriguing runner is Main Fact, who is stepping up into Grade 1 company for the first time in his sky rocketing career. Since joining David Pipe this horse has thrived and has won his last nine starts, including in a Grade 3 at Haydock last time out on his first try at three miles.
Having been purchased for just £6,000 by the trainer in May 2018, this is one of the success stories of the decade. Who’s to say he has reached his peak yet? He’s 7/1 with Sky Bet to win and continue this magical tale.
Given the amount of rain that is around this week you’d be hard pressed to ignore Espoir de Guye in the Silver Cup Handicap Chase later on in the afternoon.
I made that mistake at Ascot a month ago when Venetia Williams’ improving chaser took his record at the track to 2-2 and I still now don’t know why I didn’t have to confidence to back him that day. I was a big fan of his last season and the step up to three miles might see a bit more progression again in this.
That was his first start after a wind operation and a 6lb rise might not anchor him. He’s 9/2 second favourite with Sky Bet behind 3/1 favourite The Conditional, who ran really well in the Ladbrokes Trophy on his seasonal reappearance. With Olly Murphy’s horses in much better form, Itchy Feet is also one to consider, albeit he was well held in second behind Imperial Aura at this track in a grade 2 chase last month.
Buzz really impressed me when he won a handicap hurdle at this track last time out. He was a smart flat horse for Hughie Morrison and has translated that to hurdles for Nicky Henderson.
He’s Sky Bet’s 5/1 favourite to win the last race on Saturday’s card, the Betfair Exchange Trophy, a handicap hurdle over two miles.
An 11lb rise is not insignificant, but he looked progressive on just his fifth start over obstacles that day. We may not see him in handicaps for much longer and he’s one to keep on side if he lines up here.
