Friday's ITV Racing Tips: Ben Linfoot's preview and selections for Aintree and Hexham

Horse Racing

Thu November 05, 2026 · 8 min ago

Our form expert had an 8/1 winner in his last Verdict column and he has three selections for Friday's ITV racing at Aintree and Hexham.

The Verdict: Friday November 6

2pts win Titanium Ring in the 14:45 Hexham at 9/2 (bet365, Ladbrokes, 4/1 General)

1pt win Rubaud in the 15:00 Aintree at 5/1 (General)

0.5pts e.w Marble Sands in the 15:35 Aintree at 18/1 (bet365, William Hill 1/5 1,2,3,4)

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Nicholls could get the Rub of the green

West Country Weekend heads north to Aintree on Friday and Saturday as the dry summer has left Exeter and Wincanton ‘predominantly firm’ and that means high-profile races like the BetMGM Haldon Gold Cup have a very different look to them.

While Exeter is right-handed, undulating and testing in nature, Aintree is left-handed, flat and sharp, while the distance of the Haldon Gold Cup itself is almost two furlongs shorter than it usually is.

We can expect a different race, then, but the bookies expect a similar result with the all-conquering Dan Skelton yard 5/4 to win the race with Mirabad, 12 months on from their Thistle Ask landing a touch in the same contest when it was held at Exeter.

The defensive pricing when it comes to Skelton runners is understandable, but Mirabad’s odds are largely based on his Grade 1 success at Aintree in April when he landed the Maghull Novices’ Chase at 50/1 and that race somewhat fell into his lap. Timeform reported a finishing speed of 95.7% for the closing sectional that day, indicating a pace collapse, and Mirabad picked up the pieces under a change of tactics.

He will likely face a very different scenario here as there looks to be hardly any pace on at all and this situation looks tailor made for Paul Nicholls’ RUBAUD who looks the bet in the race.

If you could pick a scenario for Rubaud this would be it, a six-runner field against hold-up horses where three of his opponents are out of the weights, while he gets significant weight from form rivals Mirabad and JPR One.

I suppose in an ideal world the race would be on a right-handed track, as well, but he ran well at Warwick going anti-clockwise in his novice chasing season and nine of his 11 wins over jumps have come in fields of eight or fewer, where he made all in just about all of them.

This is only his second chasing start in 18 months and he was pulled up in the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival, but he’ll have been schooled intensively at Ditcheat and this looks much more his bag.

Sam Twiston-Davies will know exactly what is required here, and with a pipe opener under his belt over hurdles at Chepstow last time the Haldon really does look his Gold Cup, at a time of year when his record is exemplary (his form figures for Nicholls before Christmas are 1111111114).

The Verdict: Back RUBAUD in the 15:00 Aintree

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Marble looks rock solid first time up

The Badger Beers has also been saved by Aintree and is rebranded as the BetMGM Handicap Chase this year with 12 runners set to go to post in a cracking renewal.

Again, we find ourselves taking on a Skelton-trained favourite in Here Comes Georgie and he could be tough to beat, but I don’t mind having a small each-way wager on MARBLE SANDS at 18/1 getting four places.

First time out over jumps is the time to catch the grey, his career form figures for that criteria 21111 and those last two wins have been achieved in good races over fences after having a spin on the Flat to get him ready.

Indeed, last year he won over 3m3f at Cheltenham in a Premier handicap off a mark of 142, following a good run on the level at Goodwood, and his recent outing at Pontefract was just as encouraging with a view to his seasonal jumps debut in mind.

He gets a 10lb pull at the weights with Konfusion on their Wetherby form and while 146 is a punchy enough mark, he’s a classy operator who stays further, will like the ground, and with fitness on his side he has plenty going for him in a race where a strong gallop looks likely.

His trainers David Killahena & Graeme McPherson are in fine form, too, winning with four of their last 10 runners, and I’m looking forward to seeing him over the Mildmay fences at Aintree after a couple of unsuccessful goes on the National course.

The Verdict: Back MARBLE SANDS in the 15:35 Aintree

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Strong case for Titanium at Hexham

Finally, three races from Hexham complete the ITV coverage and the carpetgallop.co.uk Handicap Hurdle over 2m4f at 14:45 looks a good race for a bet.

Kool Raoul is the obligatory favourite here after winning over the course and distance last time, but that race was handed to him on a plate as he dictated matters off a slow gallop and there looks to be plenty more pace pressure in here.

Indeed, Sunset Hill and Snowrocco could well contribute to a strong gallop and with that in mind I’d much rather back Henry Daly’s TITANIUM RING at a slightly bigger price.

This horse ran well off a strong gallop when beaten a length and a half in a close finish at Bangor when he was last seen in April and that was a career-best run on just his second handicap start.

There’s more to come from him and it looks significant Daly takes him up to Hexham from Shropshire for his seasonal reappearance with the trainer aiming to take his track record to four wins from nine runners.

This horse’s half-brother Park Of Kings won a handicap hurdle first time back in his second season over hurdles and with the Daly yard in good form, including a couple of recent first-time back winners, I would expect Titanium Ring to be fit and firing as he bids to capitalise off a mark of 105.