Tony McFadden provides an overview of the key things to note on Saturday.
Heltenham has fine record over course and distance
The two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase (14:25) at Newbury was won in 2023 and 2024 by Heltenham, who further underlined his effectiveness over the course and distance when landing the Greatwood Gold Cup last month.
That Greatwood Gold Cup success took Heltenham's course-and-distance record to four wins, one second and one unplaced effort from only six starts. What's more, the Greatwood looks like a solid piece of form as the runner-up, Blow Your Wad, finished fourth in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival, while the third home, Teddy Blue, won a valuable handicap chase at Kempton last weekend.
Heltenham, therefore, looks fairly treated off this 6 lb higher mark and heads Timeform's weight-adjusted ratings by 2 lb. He looks a big player back at a track which clearly plays to his strengths and where he has built such a reliable record.
Getawhisky open to improvement in handicaps
Dan and Harry Skelton, who combine with Heltenham, also have the most interesting runner in the feature race on Newbury's card, the Grade 2 handicap hurdle for mares (15:00), with Getawhisky.
There's £65,000 up for grabs and it's likely the valuable contest has been on Getawhisky's agenda for a while; the race was certainly on the mind of Timeform's reporter who analysed Getawhisky's effort when fourth at Market Rasen last month.
Getawhisky wasn't seen to best effect at Market Rasen having been held up off the pace, but she made some promising late headway and was awarded the Horse In Focus Flag to mark her out as one likely to be of firm interest next time.
The reporter noted: "This race unearthed the winner of the final at Newbury last season and she deserves to be top of the shortlist, looking to have been let off lightly from an opening BHA mark of 120 (Windsor success already working out), particularly with the step up in trip bound to suit."
As it happens, Getawhisky has been eased 1 lb since Market Rasen so makes her handicap debut here from a BHA mark of 119. She unsurprisingly has the Timeform 'small p' to highlight that she's capable of better, with the step up in trip to two and a half miles for the first time an obvious potential catalyst for that progress.
Step up in trip to suit progressive Kingofthecarnival
Another runner on Saturday who promises to be really suited by a step up in trip is Kingofthecarnival, who contests the mile handicap (18:30) at Newcastle.
Sticking to seven furlongs didn't prevent Kingofthecarnival from rewarding good support on his handicap debut at Newcastle 16 days ago, but the strength he showed inside the final furlong to win going away by a length and three-quarters indicates that he will benefit from a stiffer test of stamina.
That performance, which came on his return from five months off and first start since being gelded, earned him the Horse In Focus Flag from Timeform's reporter, while he unsurprisingly still has the Timeform 'small p' having shown so much improvement on his handicap debut.
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