Our form expert tipped a 12/1 winner in his verdict column last weekend and he has four selections for Saturday's ITV racing at Sandown and Wolverhampton.
The Verdict: Saturday March 8
1pt win George’s Lad in 1.50 Sandown at 13/2 (bet365, William Hill)
1pt e.w Hardy Du Seuil in 2.25 Sandown at 28/1 (1/5 1,2,3,4,5, bet365, William Hill)
1pt win Local Hero in 2.45 Wolverhampton at 8/1 (General)
1pt win Excello in 3.35 Sandown at 7/1 (BetVictor, Coral)
Hardy selection in Saturday feature
It looks a wide-open renewal of the Betfair Imperial Cup at Sandown on Saturday and it’s no surprise to see the bookies going 6/1 the field.
Drying ground adds an unusual factor into the mix given this race has been run on soft or worse the last eight years and when you go back to the last good-ish ground renewals you wanted to be prominent.
That said, I’d be fairly open minded about where you want to be positioned this year, as there looks to be the potential for a very strong gallop in a big field with Knickerbockerglory, Big Ginge and We’re Red And Blue all likely to be up there.
I’d be lukewarm on those at the top of the market. Bo Zenith might need softer ground at this trip, the juice has been squeezed out of last year’s winner Go Dante’s price and Batman Girac looks very short for his form even if he is trained by Willie Mullins.
Lump Sum is the class act and he should run his race but I wouldn’t be surprised to see one at a big price go in here and the one I like is Jamie Snowden’s HARDY DU SEUIL at 28/1.
He’s eight and it feels like he’s been around a while, but he’s mixed chasing with hurdling and has only had nine hurdles starts in the UK.
Rarely has he raced off a mark as low as 129 – when he ran off 124 he won a course and distance handicap by three lengths from a future Imperial Cup winner – so he looks on a handy mark and Will Featherstone takes another 7lb off.
He’s lightly-raced this season having had two starts and that puts him in a good place fitness-wise against horses with more recent battle scars, while I liked his run in a good race at Windsor, a track that would be too sharp for him, last time.
That form looks like it is going to work out well, Cracking Rhapsody boosting it in the Morebattle at Kelso last week, and Hardy Du Seuil ran a good race reverting to more prominent tactics, finishing fifth after losing a couple of positions on the run to the line.
Snowden has put the cheekpieces back on and he ran well with two seconds in handicap hurdles the first time the sheepskin was applied, so it looks a significant strategy that they reappear for his third run of the season at a track he likes.
The Verdict: Back HARDY DU SEUIL in the 2.25 Sandown
Lavelle’s Lad looks an EBF diamond
In contrast the horses at the top of the market for the European Breeders' Fund Betfair 'National Hunt' Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final are the ones I’ll be concentrating on.
Belliano looks a worthy favourite after he cruised to success at Market Rasen in the same race McFabulous qualified in before winning here, but Emma Lavelle’s GEORGE’S LAD was equally impressive at Doncaster last time.
Harry Cobden didn’t move a muscle as the son of Order Of St George cantered to a facile victory in the race that last year’s EBF Final winner Champagne Twist qualified in and he glided over the nicer ground.
That Doncaster win was boosted by the runner-up, Calimystic, who won by seven lengths at the same track a month later, and George’s Lad looked in a different league to the Nicky Henderson-trained horse.
A former pointer bred for an intermediate trip, George’s Lad clearly improved a bundle for tackling 2m3f on Town Moor and I’d rate him the main danger to Paul Nicholls’ market leader.
With the Lavelle team in great form with four winners in the last fortnight, he’s worth backing.
The Verdict: Back GEORGE’S LAD in the 1.50 Sandown
Henderson to Excello at the right time
The final bet at Sandown is Nicky Henderson’s EXCELLO who can improve his form now returned to chasing in the Best Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase.
He looked a horse to follow when bolting up in a conditions chase at Ascot in the December of 2023 as a four-year-old, easily beating the 149-rated Solo, and his mark went up to 146 on the back of it.
That proved to be too much too early in his development and he struggled in two Cheltenham handicaps off such a lofty number, but Henderson has been patient with him since.
Summer wind surgery was followed by four runs in novice hurdles to get some experience into him and he’s fared okay, particularly behind Derryhassen Paddy and Catch Him Derry on his last two starts, but loads better is expected now he returns to fencing.
Being conditioned over hurdles can stand him in good stead and with his chase mark falling to 132, fully a stone below what he ran off at Cheltenham just two steeplechasing starts ago, now is the time to get with him again at an enticing 7/1.
The Verdict: Back EXCELLO in the 3.35 Sandown
Shop Local in the Lincoln trial
Finally, over at Wolverhampton there’s good all-weather action and I like the look of the BetMGM Lincoln Trial Handicap that opens that card over the extended mile.
The market has cornered on last year’s winner Kingdom Come, which is fair enough, but he got a charmed passage 12 months ago and hasn’t won in six starts since, so I’m happy enough to take him on.
Last year’s runner-up Final Voyage has got a wide draw again and will likely have to cover more ground than his rivals, but this should be strongly run with Symbol Of Light, Silent Age, Bajan Bandit and Empirestateofmind all possibles to force the pace.
That can bring the closers into things and the one I like is Richard Hannon’s LOCAL HERO at 8/1.
The four-year-old is improving after just nine career starts, five of them over a mile, his last two performances at Kempton the best two efforts of his career.
His victory in December was a comfortable one in a good race that has worked out quite well and then he was unlucky off his new mark over the same course and distance last time.
Hampered at a crucial point in a slowly-run race, he finished off with a rattle to ensure fourth and he very much gave the impression he can win off 92 when granted a different set of circumstances.
A strong gallop will play to his strengths and I think he’ll like the track, too.
He does have a second at Wolverhampton on his profile from his novice days and Phoenix of Spain progeny have a very good all-weather record, particular on the Tapeta (including six from 26 at 23.08% at Wolverhampton).
Joe Leavy will likely play his cards late here, but if the gaps appear at the right time he could well secure a fourth career success and 8/1 prices are more than fair.
The Verdict: Back LOCAL HERO in the 2.45 Wolverhampton
Preview posted at 1520 GMT on 07/03/25
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