Jango Baie against Il Est Francais catches the eye among three fascinating clashes at Ascot this weekend - Matt Brocklebank assesses the big head-to-heads.
Lucky Place v Regent’s Stroll
- 12.15 Ascot, Friday – Get Your Ladbrokes Free Ascot Bet ‘Chasing Excellence’ Beginners’ Chase
Friday’s opening beginners’ chase over two miles and five furlongs should be a belter and Nicky Henderson has been making all the right noises about Lucky Place this autumn. He was reportedly very close to going over fences before beating Blueking d’Oroux on seasonal debut in last year’s Coral Hurdle, after which he followed up in the Relkeel at Cheltenham with a gutsy defeat of Gowel Road.
The Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival didn’t go to plan after he raced too keenly and he wasn’t seen at his very best at Sandown on the final day either, finishing three and a half lengths behind Blueking d’Oroux that day, but it’ll be exciting to see how he fares over the bigger obstacles following stablemate Lulamba’s sparkling introduction at Exeter on Monday.
Another stablemate, Jeriko Du Reponet, features among the potential Ascot opposition but the big threat could be Paul Nicholls’ Regent’s Stroll, who went a long way to restoring his lofty reputation when second in the Grade 1 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree in the spring.
Nicholls hopes fences will “settle him down” a bit and, with the forecast for a bit more rain at the weekend, it’s hard to see him returning to the fray anything but fully fit and raring to go. It should be a highly-informative contest whichever way it swings.
Il Est Francais v Jango Baie
- 1.30 Ascot, Saturday – Grade 2 Ladbrokes 1965 Chase
No disrespect to the horses in question but having beaten Straw Fan Jack (officially rated 141 at the time) and Hidden Depths (128) to land the past two editions of the 1965 Chase, one suspects the admirable Pic D’orhy will have a bit more on his plate if the entries hold up this weekend.
The two to focus on could be last year’s King George VI Chase runner-up Il Est Francais, who starts out for Tom George having made the switch from his son’s yard in France, and the Henderson-trained Jango Baie.
Jango Baie is still only a six-year-old and remains open to plenty of further improvement having pushed Handstands to within a whisker in the Scilly Isles at Sandown in February before pulling an Arkle win out of the fire at Cheltenham the following month.
Said to slightly be lame in light of his staying-on Manifesto third when sent off 6/4 favourite at Aintree when last seen, Jango Baie is reportedly being geared up for a crack at the King George this Christmas and one suspects he might be one of the reasons that Ben Pauling is happy to give the race a miss with his highly-regarded The Jukebox Man, who is bound for a graduation chase at Haydock on the same day.
Potters Charm v Wodhooh
- 2.40 Ascot, Saturday – Grade 2 Ladbrokes Ascot Hurdle
You never quite know what the Ascot Hurdle might throw up in terms of future prospects as it can clearly be used as a nice stepping-stone for potential Stayers’ Hurdle horses, while last year the eventual Champion Hurdle winner (Golden Ace, for those with short memories) could manage only a rusty-looking fourth as the 2/1 favourite.
Kateira is fit from Wetherby (where she incidentally saw off a rusty-looking Golden Ace) and Jingko Blue is presumably on the Lucky Place route and seeing where he slots in before possibly going novice chasing, but Potters Charm looks to be the main hope from the home contingent.
Very much in the Stayers’ Hurdle mould according to the Twiston-Davies camp, he fell early on in the West Yorkshire Hurdle on seasonal debut at the start of the month and it’s no surprise they’re keen to get him out again and see a bit more of last year’s Grade 1 Formby Novices’ Hurdle winner.
He wore a tongue-tie for the Cheltenham Festival when fifth to The New Lion in the Turners but it was left off at Wetherby – following summer wind surgery – so perhaps it'll be back on this Saturday. On his best form he might be the horse to beat.
Gordon Elliott could have something to say about that, however, despite playing down the chances of Wodhooh developing into a realistic Champion Hurdle contender this season in a recent interview on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast.
She might well be a perfect Mares’ Hurdle candidate, though, with only Lossiemouth shorter than her in the antepost books for that race, and two and a half miles on decent enough ground on a stiff track like Ascot should be right up her street too based on the striking Martin Pipe win at Cheltenham back in March (replay below).
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
