Rory Delargy delivers Sunday's Punting Pointers and he's got two interesting selections to consider at Lingfield.
Racing betting tips: Sunday December 21
0.5pts e.w. Fontana Ellissi in 14:00 Lingfield at 20/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4) – min 16/1
1pt win Jeu d’Opale in 14:30 Lingfield at 9/4 (General) – min 2/1
14:00 Lingfield
FONTANA ELLISSI hasn’t taken much racing in recent times and isn’t easy to fancy on the face of it, but six of his last seven runs have been in 0-140 or better company, and he takes a big drop in class on his return at a time when his stable is in fair form.
The negatives are easy enough to find with Fontana Ellissi but he’s been highly tried for some time, and gets a rare winning opportunity in this 0-110 grade.
He stays well, and has twice run well off much higher marks at Cheltenham, so should have no trouble with conditions today and the question is how fit he will be after a break. That isn’t easy to gauge, but he’s a big price for a horse who’s been competitive in much better races, and is worth risking.
14:30 Lingfield
JEU D'OPALE makes an early switch to fences for a team that does well with their chasers at Lingfield and is the type to improve on his fair hurdles form now pitched into a handicap on his British chase debut.
The son of Jeu St Eloi has experience over fences in France, showing improved form over the bigger obstacles in a trio of runs which saw him win or finish second. All told, he was the best part of a stone better over fences than hurdles in France, but is essentially racing off a mark predicated by his UK hurdles form here.
If the seven-year-old retains all his ability (and he’s been running to a similar level over hurdles here as he did for Guillaume Macaire and Hector de Lageneste) then he has been let in lightly and his new trainer has a much higher strike-rate with her chasers than her hurdlers, which adds to confidence.
Preview posted 10:30 GMT on 21/12/25
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