AFTER the drama of last week’s Cheltenham Festival, where the highs and lows of racing were so clearly demonstrated, this weekend has a low-key feel to it.
That isn’t to say there isn’t some decent racing though and both Newbury and Kelso host premier cards.
Perhaps the best betting race on Saturday is Newbury’s BetVictor Handicap Chase (2.40pm) and it’s a race I’m keen to throw a few darts at in the hunt for another ante-post winner.
With the recent dry weather looking like it will hang around until the weekend, the ground at the Berkshire course should be good come race day and there are a few in this field that could really benefit.
BEAU BALKO is a consistent performer that goes best on good ground and has strong form at this course and distance.
He was a winner on good ground at Wincanton in November before then twice finishing second around Newbury.
After a short break in January and February he returned with an encouraging effort in the Greatwood Gold Cup.
That run is worth marking up too as he was hampered and nearly carried through the wings of the third last by a wayward rival, but still kept on to finish a good fourth.
Given it was also run on soft ground, there were plenty of positives to take from it and he should be prepped to run a big race now a pound lower with five-pound claimer Ben Bromley again in the saddle.
After a winner at Cheltenham last week with Caldwell Potter, Paul Nicholls’ horses seem to be hitting form and I can see that trend continuing this spring.
At 10/1, there’s plenty of each-way juice in Beau Balko’s price.
While the forecast is largely settled, with courses watering due to the dry weather, it’s worth noting that those conditions can turn on a sixpence if a few millimetres of ran hit the track.
We’re hoping for dry conditions though, as RISKINTHEGROUND is another that will have a chance if the rain stays away, at huge odds of 33/1.
Dan Skelton’s eight-year-old racked up a hat-trick of wins last summer, rising 15 pounds in the handicap, and then ran well in the Summer Plate at Market Rasen.
He won again following that at Bangor, rising in the weights to a mark of 133, but hasn’t been seen in the winners’ enclosure in six runs since that win in September.
However, he has now dropped to a feasible rating of 128, only a pound above his last winning mark, and back on good ground, Saturday could be his day.
Kelso hosts a seven-race card on Saturday with plenty of good prize money on offer.
That has certainly attracted some big fish, with plenty of southern yards set to send runners up to Scotland and the irrepressible Willie Mullins also holding entries at this stage.
However, the presence of those names is likely to lead to their runners being over-bet and we could be able to grab a bit of value with the locally-trained LIZZIE LUNA in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle Series Final (3.00pm).
She looked a mare on the improve when notching her first win at Musselburgh over two-and-a-half miles last month, when chasing down a runaway leader in good style.
A six-pound rise in the weights doesn’t look excessive given how far clear they were of the third and I’m confident there could be more to come.
She has course form, and the drop back in trip shouldn’t be a disadvantage, so I think she comes here seriously under the radar and needs to be considered each-way at 16/1.
POINTERS SATURDAY
Beau Balko e/w 2.40pm Newbury
Riskintheground e/w 2.40pm Newbury
Lizzie Luna e/w 3.00pm Kelso