Ground on the soft side of good is expected for the two jump meetings on Wednesday afternoon at Haydock Park and Ludlow. We have two horse racing tips from the Shropshire track and one for the Merseyside racecourse.
1.45pm Ludlow - Cup Of Coffee (Nap of the Day)
On 6lb better terms, Sam Drinkwater’s course and distance winner looks good value to overturn recent form with hot favourite Mullenbeg in this two-mile handicap.
1.45pm Ludlow - Cup Of Coffee (Nap of the Day)
The Milton Harris-trained Mullenbeg has been installed at odds in the region of 8/11 to record a hat-trick of victories in this mares’ handicap hurdle following wins at Plumpton and Fakenham over the last month or so. But the mount of Jonathan Burke runs off a 6lb higher mark here and is worth opposing at a short price with Cup Of Coffee from the Sam Drinkwater stable.
The eight-year-old mare beat a hotpot of Paul Nicholls in a Ludlow maiden around this time last year, along with a victory in a Hexham handicap towards the end of the season, a race in which the second and third horses home have gone on to record subsequent wins.
Having her first start for 213 days at Fakenham two weeks ago, Robert Dunne’s mount still held a narrow lead when falling 2 out, leaving fellow rival Mullenbeg to take the race. With that run under her belt and on 6lb better terms, Cup Of Coffee looks decent value to overturn that form at around 3/1.
2.45pm Ludlow - Grizzly James (Next Best)
On the face of it, with all five runners covered by only a point and a half in early betting exchanges, this two-mile novices’ handicap chase looks an open affair, with top weight Tap Tap Boom a marginal favourite to beat his four rivals.
The only horse yet to race over fences is the Venetia Williams-trained Grizzly James, and the mount of Robert Dunne is fancied to make a winning chasing debut off a mark of 102. The Montmartre gelding ran three times when trained in France, winning a hurdle race at Dieppe in July 2020 before joining Williams last October.
The six-year-old was given plenty of time to acclimatise, together with a couple of wind ops, before showing his first piece of form when finishing third in a conditional jockey’s handicap at Warwick recently, holding every chance until lack of condition told late-on.
With the stable starting to fire in the winners now after a slow start to the season, Grizzly James is sure to improve now racing over the bigger obstacles and can take advantage of what could prove to be a lenient handicap mark.
3.07pm Haydock - Saint Xavier (Longshot)
The nine runners for this veterans’ chase is headed by the Venetia Williams-trained Chambard, who was last seen winning the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival. The mount of 5lb claimer Miss Lucy Turner will probably come on for today’s run and is now racing off a 7lb higher mark.
The stable are also responsible for the ex-Nick Williams-trained Coo Star Sivola, who has the services of stable jockey Charlie Deutsch. But further down the weights, the value may lie with Saint Xavier from the Richard Hobson stable and 3lb claimer Lilly Pinchin.
All of the gelding’s three wins over fences came in France before the 10-year-old joined Ditcheat handler Paul Nicholls three years ago, winning over hurdles at Kempton for the champion trainer. The son of Saint Des Saints returned to Auteuil to win an amateur riders chase for present connections 12 months ago, since when the selection has alternated between Britain and France.
Some decent efforts have followed on both sides of the English Channel, and off a career-low mark of 121 and on the back of a good run at Prestbury Park earlier in the month, Saint Xavier looks poised to open his account over fences for the first time in Britain.
* Odds correct at the time of writing but subject to change.