Haydock and Musselburgh ITV Racing tips: Value Bet preview for Saturday April 3
Weekend racing betting tips: Saturday, April 3
1pt win Nordic Combined in 2.05 Haydock at 14/1 (General)
1pt win Silva Eclipse in 2.40 Haydock at 11/1 (General)
1pt win Son And Sannie in 3.00 Musselburgh at 20/1 (BoyleSports)
1pt win Kansas City Chief in 3.15 Haydock at 16/1 (General)
The Flat is back – again – on Saturday with Musselburgh staging a deeply competitive card and the ground will be pretty close to good by the afternoon with a sunny and breezy day expected.
I’m not going to be too heavily involved at the Scottish track from a punting perspective, especially with three fancies on the jumps card from Haydock, but could easily end up backing something in the Betway Queen’s Cup as a lot of these are likely to be bigger prices on the day.
I’m pretty convinced there’s a nice staying handicap to be won with Alright Sunshine and back on a decent surface, fit from hurdling, might just be the time to catch him. His price contracted throughout Friday, though, so I’ll give the race a miss unless Keith Dalgleish’s horse eases back out to 12/1 or something similar come the off.
Betway Scottish Sprint Cup Handicap hope Zarzyni featured in the column ahead of his debut for David Barron at Wolverhampton last month and he ran a very promising race in third.
The handicapper has left him alone on a mark of 90 and he can surely win at this kind of level on turf for his new trainer, but dropping back to five furlongs on lively enough ground could be a slight issue for the son of Siyouni.
The price puts me off him anyway and I much prefer the look of SON AND SANNIE who has a not too dissimilar profile having been bought from Ireland and sent to another yard that does so well with sprinters in Paul Midgley.
Midgley has a smart record in this race, winning it with Line Of Reason in 2017 but also having the second and fifth in 2019, the fourth in 2018, and the fifth in 2016.
He’s clearly targeted the prize once more and saddles four in total including Orvar, whose last two wins have been achieved from his current mark of 87 (has won handicaps off 91 earlier in his career). He handles any ground which is a big plus too, but stall one looks a pretty rotten place to be especially with most of the pace (Caspian Prince, Copper Knight, Jabbarockie) all middle-to-high.
Son And Sannie – drawn right on the stands’ side in stall 13 – should get a nice tow through and his form on the all-weather in November (including a Lingfield third to Lihou which has worked out well since) was a big step up from the first couple of efforts he produced for Midgley on the grass at the end of last season.
The ground was seemingly against him at Windsor and Thirsk and he’ll relish conditions here having absolutely bolted up on good to yielding at Naas on his final start for previous connections last June.
If any of these are coming into the race with plenty in hand then it might just be him and it’s unlikely his trainer has left a huge amount to work on fitness-wise.
What are the best bets at Haydock?
Vision Du Puy could be one of the warmer favourites among the ITV races at Haydock in the Betway Challenger Two Mile Hurdle Series Final Handicap Hurdle.
The mare toughed it out to ultimately win a shade cosily from Glory And Fortune at Stratford last month but she’s not stood a great deal of racing throughout her career and is still prone to make loads of jumping mistakes.
I’m keen to be against her off a 5lb higher mark and the one who appeals most at the odds is David Pipe’s NORDIC COMBINED, who is crashing down the weights on account of some pretty ropy form over the winter.
Having been picked up from Stuart Kittow off the Flat, he had a good novice hurdling campaign and went off just 16/1 for Al Dancer’s Betfair Hurdle at Ascot a couple of years ago, where he was too keen and finished down the field.
That came from a mark of 133, though, and he claimed his sole success for Pipe after edging down to 122 at Taunton last March, a change of headgear doing the job as the blinkers he’d worn on the Flat returned to spark a revival.
He was up to the low 130s after that but has slipped back to 121 again and a 2lb drop for his last run at Fontwell could be particularly generous as he had the stuffing completely knocked out of him when colliding with a rival three flights from home.
Cheekpieces were tried again there but it’s the visor that goes back on this weekend and, given he clearly has the ability from his current mark, I can’t let him go unbacked at the prices.
Debece is going to be another fairly strong fancy for the Skeltons, but I didn’t really like the way he finished up the hill at Sandown on his debut for the yard and he’s consequently worth opposing in the Betway Challenger Staying Chase Series Final Handicap Chase.
Perhaps he’ll see the race out a bit stronger on the second start after wind surgery but his best runs have always been after a longer break than the 21-day turnaround he faces here, and I’d be far from convinced he’ll even confirm placings with Sandown third Innisfree Lad, who is 4lb better off at the weights.
Matt Sheppard's horse has already had a wonderful season and might not be done with yet on that latest showing, when hinting that a return to this longer trip would strongly suit. However, he can’t have much in hand off his current mark and there are dangers elsewhere.
Crossley Tender is a bit of a character and will need delivering right on the line in all likelihood. That’s really difficult to pull off up the long, home straight at Haydock and with Mahlermade throwing in a bit of a stinker at Fakenham last month, plus Defuture Is Bright taking a rise in grade, this race does look really open.
I wouldn’t rule out Venetia Williams’ Un Prophete despite reports of a heart issue after pulling up at Huntingdon last time, but the bet here has to be SILVA ECLIPSE for Sue Smith.
The grey has only had the two starts over fences and built on his Wetherby debut run to win a Sedgefield handicap over the extended three miles, two furlongs on March 7.
He’s gone up 5lb to 129 which doesn’t look wildly generous, but he was well on top at the line and his revised chase mark only really brings him into line with what he was able to do over hurdles.
To put that into context, Silva Eclipse was beaten into second by Welsh Saint from a mark off 128 in a handicap hurdle here last February, having won well at the same course from 124 the previous month.
His Haydock record overall is really strong, boasting course form figures of 2223120, the one no show a too-bad-to-be-true effort earlier this season before his attention was turned to chasing.
He’s shown a real aptitude for the new discipline and, given he’s totally unexposed over fences relative to plenty of these rivals, there’s no reason to suggest he can’t take higher rank still as he gets to grips with the bigger obstacles.
Smith saddles hat-trick seeking Small Present in the Betway Challenger Stayers Hurdle Series Final but the one I want on side at a bigger price is KANSAS CITY CHIEF.
He did us a small favour when placed (25/1) in the Pertemps Qualifier at Cheltenham earlier in the season and he looks dangerously well treated again off 2lb lower than that staying-on third behind Honest Vic at the November meeting.
He doesn’t want bottomless ground and was wisely kept away from the worst of it during December and January but returned with a pleasing enough third on heavy going at Wincanton in February, after which he attracted a bit of support at huge prices for the Pertemps Final at the Festival.
Unfortunately, he unseated Millie Wonnacott, who suffered a neck injury in the process, but he’d been racing enthusiastically just behind the leaders and looks primed to pick up a race or two this spring with Neil Mulholland’s horses still ticking over in pretty good form.
Tom Scudamore – who last rode Kansas City Chief to be sixth in the 2020 Pertemps Final – comes in for the ride and he’s a bet at 10/1 or bigger.
Published at 1600 BST on 02/04/21
ITV Racing Schedule
Musselburgh: 1.50, 2.25, 3.00, 3.35
Haydock Park: 2.05, 2.40, 3.15
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