Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

It does seem a race where all of the preceding trials have been run on different ground and/or under very different pace scenarios. There will be lots of to and fro in the six weeks from now until the Cheltenham Festival gets underway. A few positions on shorties at fancier prices, for all that the spectre of our picks winning but not by far enough looms, may help to wile the worst of these remaining Covid days. Put The Bolts Up Daily Kettle On jumped poorly under Sean Flanagan when slammed by CPS and Notebook last time but can be expected to improve both for a return to Cheltenham and the presumed return of Aidan Coleman to the saddle. In that light, she’s of minor interest at 14/1 each way and also worth at least a second glance when the ‘without the favourite’ market emerges. But it is hard to see her turning tables with her last day vanquisher.

Race one preview and tips

Nicholls’ 1 from 30 record since 2013 is equally difficult to excuse. And in terms of jumping acuity, he has yet to make a serious mistake in three chases. True, all were small field affairs, but the Arkle, too, will quite likely cut up to a handful of contenders. Still, those fences need to be jumped, and he has to arrive pristine at Prestbury. The leftfield option is First Flow, who was exhilarating at Ascot last time. He’d need supplementing, very likely, but he’d also need to improve another eight pounds on current ratings – less likely.

• No, if I was having a swipe right now, it might be Not So Sleepy without Honeysuckle at 33/1+ each way.
• Of course, he’s priced as though he has little chance and that may be how it transpires.
• Racing against hardened, more experienced chasers he battled all the way to the line to get within 3 1/2 lengths of the Grade 1-winning Mullins chaser Capodanno and last year’s Brown Advisory winner The Real Whacker.
• The Glancing Queen will no doubt be well fancied for the feature race, but she hasn’t been the soundest jumper over hurdles and is worth opposing on her chase debut.
• A race that will probably play out in line with the market expectation of a duel between Jonbon and El Fabiolo.
• The big roar that accompanies this race sometimes feel like a racecourse full of punters has been holding its collective breath for 361 days (or 362 this time around).

Horse Racing in the UK

This year it started on May 4 and runs until April 26, 2025. It’s such a thrilling sport and at its best when you get the chance to see the horses close up in the flesh. You can spend a wonderful afternoon or evening with friends, grab a drink, have a meal and, if you want, place a bet. Horses race over obstacles and on the flat – these are called, simply enough, jump racing and Flat racing.

First race on the card is the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle

Last year, five of the six horses sent off at 5/4 or shorter were beaten. This year, we look set to have at least five runners priced in that same bracket. Mishaps aside, it is hard (for me, at least) to make credible cases to oppose any of the quintet.

30 Queen Mother Champion Chase (Grade 1, 2m)

He was unlucky at Haydock last Saturday and a return to this trip will suit. TAMFANA can win a well-deserved Group 1 in the Sun Chariot Stakes. She was desperately unlucky not to win the 1,000 Guineas here in May and stepping up in trip in two French Group 1s has not really suited. She looked much more comfortable when bolting up over this trip at Sandown in August. Sunracing’s columnist Andrew Balding saddles likely favourite Brighton Boy and he was very strong at the finish at York. She’s bred to handle the ground and the only concern would be her 100-day absence, but, given the big money on offer, she will surely be primed for this.

Four things you must know about racing

If the ground dries out, it might be that connections of Honeysuckle decide to run over this two-and-a-half mile trip rather than the extended two of the Champion Hurdle. The hallmark of those runs, and indeed her run style generally, is being held together off the pace before cruising through to prevail comfortably. In so doing it is hard to peg the level of her form exactly, always leaving the impression there is more in the tank. Lightly raced, as is often the modus operandi with Willie Mullins’ better mares, Concertista has run just twice this term. She beat the same mare, Minella Melody, by nearly two lengths in a Grade 2 in November and then by more than six lengths in a Grade 3 at the turn of the year.

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Then, more recently, Chacun Pour Soi was returned 8/13 but could only return to the 3rd place area in the winners’ enclosure. Since then, Energumene was sent off at 5/2 and 6/5 in his two recent winning years. A Champion Chase that has been El Fabiolo’s to lose for much of the season. And in the absence of his Closutton mate and reigning champ of the past two years, Energumene, he shows at odds on to register a third victory in a row for that man Mullins, who – let’s not forget – had never won the QMCC prior to 2022.

Tuesday’s UK & Irish Horse Racing Bets

Likely to be at least truly run, and potentially a little fast early; the winner will need to travel and jump at top speed as well as possess sufficient stamina to see it out after the last. For the final segment of this article I want to have a brief look at Grade 1 races. These races comprise 50% of the 28 Festival contests and, in the last 15 years, they have accounted for roughly the same percentage of all the Festival contests (some of the newer races being upgraded during the review period).

• The Festival’s most prolific jockey has gone to hospital with a suspected broken leg.
• These individuals or organisations have extensive knowledge and experience in horse racing and share their insights and predictions with the public.
• One group of runners to avoid in Grade 1 races seems to be those that ran relatively modestly or poorly last time out.
• VADREAM looks a spot of value to win this for a second time.
• He looks sure to be finishing best of all and will be many punters’ place option.
• But I’ve been drawn to Coko Beach, still relatively young at nine and in the form of his life.
• “It is sublime and some great names from Australia who have won here have trained over 150 Group One winners and that’s only my third.

Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Tuesday, April 19

If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap by adding a tip on the race here. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at Doncaster Racecourse section for links to these. Getting one’s head around sectional timing is not the easiest way to play the horses, but there are real insights to be gleaned for those who take some time to figure it out.

Irish runners versus UK runners

SPECIAL TIARA Bold front runner who capitalised on Douvan’s injury to win this race a year ago. Well beaten by Altior at Sandown later and he looks to have had his day in the sun. ALTIOR Grand chaser who seeks his third consecutive win at the festival.

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State Man last year and this year’s Arkle 3rd Saint Roi 2 years ago. Hunters Yarn wouldn’t be out of place in the Grade 1 novice hurdles this year and is a multiple bumper winner and won his maiden hurdle at Naas by 13 lengths. The standout juvenile all season has been the well regarded LOSSIEMOUTH.

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I’d rather take shorter when knowing the ground with him. In the end, I’m swerving The Goffer on the basis of the Irish record, which will of course be the wrong thing to do one of these years; but I definitely want a bit of the The Big Breakaway with the extended places as well. A bit of a wise guy horse on the preview circuit has been Mistergif, another Willie wunner, this one in the double green of Munir and Souede. Rated 75 or so on the flat in France, he failed to win in nine starts before trying hurdling. Under the new code, he was fifth in a Listed race on his debut and then second in a conditions event, both at Auteuil; but the horse that beat him on that final French start is zero from five (fallen three times, third once) since.

Royal Ascot 2024 day one review & replays Rosallion wins St James’s Palace Stakes

He’s by Galileo out of the star mare Annie Power, which perhaps explains the ownership triumvirate – or at least two-thirds of it. He’s three from three to date – a bumper, a novice at the Galway Festival, and the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer in January. Winners of the Moscow Flyer include Douvan, Vautour, Min, and more recently Impaire Et Passe. While the form of this season’s renewal has yet to be franked, Mystical Power bolted up by seven lengths and he is yet to be extended.

To frame this year’s expectation, we need to look backwards. Below is the same information but with the key metrics ranked, e.g. Mullins’ 2020 Festival win percentage was his second best of the past five Festivals; it was his best of five Festivals on each of EW%, PRB, IV, and A/E. So we’ll use IV, PRB and A/E as way points to navigate to a conclusion; but against which period(s) should we measure performance?

• Ignoring the Albert Bartlett, horses priced 16/1+ in novice Grade 1’s are now 3/327 (0.92% SR, -251 at SP) since 2008.
• And that’s a wrap for Day 1 at the Cheltenham Festival 2024.
• She has won three times on soft and heavy ground and conditions are in her favour.
• So the Irish are sending more runners than they did more than a decade ago, and are winning on average more often.
• Like Ms Parfois, Kilbeg King will be ridden by Will Biddick, who has been the best English amateur at Cheltenham over the past decade and more.
• LTO winners outside Graded and Listed company have by far the poorest strike rate as you would expect.

They are 0 from 22, though then nine-year-old Whisper nearly benefited from Might Bite’s errant course up the hill last year in the RSA Chase. It is worth noting that nine of those 22 were priced at 7/1 or shorter. That would have netted 36 winners from 180 runners (20% strike rate, 69% race win strike rate) and a level stakes profit of 46.48 points at Starting Price. Moreover, the approach was profitable in eight of the ten years, exceptions being 2016 and 2009.

• Most of his best form is on a sounder surface, as when fourth in the Gold Cup two years ago; but he’s raced mainly on softer recently.
• It follows then that the other 34 victors were priced at 20/1 or shorter, of which there were 458 runners.
• They’re presented in race order, starting on Tuesday, Day 1…
• Max 50 spins each day at 10p per spin for 4 consecutive days.
• David Pipe has a terrific 8 from 75 record in the last decade in Festival handicap chases, for a small SP profit.
• After Douvan had crashed out at the last ditch, while leading, there were five horses in with a chance turning in.
• It’s fair to say that the Tizzard stable was in poor form at that moment and is firing much better now; if that was a factor in War Lord’s defeat, he might be over-priced.
• It is also worth noting that he ran well on debut over this Course and Distance on his bumper debut last season and if he can build on his debut over timber, he should win this race that looks to lack any real depth.
• Djakadam and Outlander have little between them on form in Ireland.

We use a combination of statistical analysis, insider knowledge, and years of experience to provide reliable tips to their followers. Free Horse Racing Tips are typically provided by tipsters or betting websites, such as us – Get Your Tips Out. Whether it’s the Grand National, Royal Ascot, or the Derby, Get Your Tips Out remains dedicated to curating unparalleled tips and recommendations to steer punters towards success. The platform’s detailed analysis of accumulators allows users to create strategic betting combinations. Get Your Tips Out ensures convenient access to valuable tips, making betting experiences hassle-free.

I cannot with clean conscience propose you bet anything in this race on my say so. In 2021, Epatante could only finish third in the Champion Hurdle, behind Honeysuckle. Marie’s Rock had recently run third in a mares’ Grade 2 at Doncaster and Love Envoi was about to win a Wexford bumper on her first start. A year later, last year, and Honeysuckle again won the Champion Hurdle with Epatante her nearest pursuer on this occasion.

FAMOUS CLERMONT is a tentative selection in a wide-open affair, following an effortless 18-length romp at Haydock. The winner of that contest in 2022 went on to follow up in the Albert Bartlett, as The Nice Guy improved hugely for the rise in distance at Cheltenham. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Seabank Bistro repeats the feat this time around and is worth a small each-way wager. The course which has produced the most winners of the Ayr Gold Cup is Goodwood, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Goodwood last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Ripon and Haydock, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses. When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2006 when the race had an over-round of 122%.

And, from a value perspective, especially if that horse is returning to optimal conditions today having recently run under less suitable criteria. A facilitator is merely something that greases the wheels, smooths the process, or saves time. In terms of horse racing betting, it’s usually either the aforementioned trusted human advisor or, for fans – like me – of the puzzle, it’s a website form resource like the one found elsewhere on these virtual pages. There’s plenty of content about how to use the geegeez toolkit elsewhere – try this link for a run down, so in this post I want to consider the other term, differentiators. It all started with a new superstar in the name of Bob Olinger, who absolutely bolted up in the Ballymore novices hurdle to become the first of the Cheltenham Festival Day 2 Winners. He was heavily supported in the market all morning, and my Ante Post Nap selection for the festival advised at 4/1 at the time of posting.

We’re talking the likes of Cause Of Causes, Tiger Roll, and Delta Work, all of them ‘medalling’ in the Grand National subsequently. And all of them trained by Gordon Elliott (by proxy in one case), a man who trained a National winner before he’d trained a winner in his native Ireland. It’s pretty clumsy and there’s no getting away from that fact.

Naturally, betting shops – and bookmaker websites and apps – also show all the action. It is also possible to watch races on your phone, tablet or computer screen by logging on to a bookmaker account and streaming via the Racing Post website or mobile app. Every single race every day can be seen live on Sky Sports Racing (free on Sky channel 415) and Racing TV (a subscription channel on Sky 424). Yes, it has its own language, and some find that intimidating, but please do not worry.

Tom Queally’s mount still has the potential for better and is worth another go at this marathon trip. Reshoun returned to winning form at Newbury 13 days ago and is feared, along with stablemate Hydroplane and last year’s runner-up Withhold. Fourteen jump fixtures for us in the schedule for the week with a wide geographic spread. We start the week in Scotland with an extended seven race card at Ayr. Following quite a long spell of rain leading up to the meeting the going has now eased to Good to Soft.

Most likely is that the top two in the betting will mark each other behind the rags, with Vauban expected to be ridden cold at the back of the field. It will be frenetic, due to the field size and the number of jockeys having their first ride of the week. The first of nine handicaps and I’ll tell you now that my thoughts will be (mercifully) brief. This race has been won by the home team exclusively since Dun Doire and Tony Martin wrested it away in 2006. They actually don’t run many – just three darts this year – and I’ll be fielding against them, perhaps carelessly. There looks to be plenty of early speed in this line up with each of Ha d’Or, Dysart Dynamo and Jonbon leading in their most recent three races.