Preview and best bets for Saturday, November 2

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The Ascot race remains one of the toughest in the country and anything that wins Saturday’s Sodexo Live! The Gold Cup Handicap Chase is almost certain to impress in the jumping department.

Chianti Classico has had one of his best rounds of the season en route to landing the Ultima at Cheltenham in March, and if he is in that mood ahead of his appearance, it’s hard to imagine a rating of 152 will be enough to prevent a truly bold bet.

The same stable’s Vinndication challenged 151 on a successful return to this race in 2019 and further encouragement can be drawn from the fact that Chianti Classico was in winning form over the distance 12 months ago, he seems to be riding very well fresh himself and certainly not against good land either – he would probably prefer that.

So, apart from the short price, there’s not too much to put punters away from the top weight, but there’s usually something lurking a little further down the handicap in this value event, and I’m willing to take a chance on Tom Lacey HIGH BET PLAYER stepping up to the plate.

Of course he lacks a bit of experience which is always a bit of a concern going into a quality handicap chase but I have been impressed with his jumps since switching to the chase and it’s worth pointing out that he’s only been beaten once over fences coming , when clearly unsuitable for the heavy traffic at Newbury in March.

Connections pointed to the relatively quick turnaround from his previous Kempton win (22 days) as a possible excuse for the slip and after almost a month’s layoff it was good to see the horse set the record by succeeding in his last outing. of the last campaign in Kempton at the end of April.

That half-length defeat of Fidux and Carl Philip (who won his next start) came with a quality fencing round and took his three-mile chase record to a perfect two. It also highlighted that he is fully effective on firm ground, although he is now unbeaten after four starts chasing on right-handed tracks, which obviously bodes well for the next Test at Ascot.

A 5lb weight-up to 135 looks well within the reach of the progressing eight-year-old, who had a handicap chase winner (Nocte Volatus, 25/1) at Chepstow earlier in the week. The high pace and as a result a real test of endurance should also be perfectly suited to the selection and it rates the day’s rate.

Another really exciting one that is worthy of interest at Ascot RIGHTSOT in obstacles with Lavazza obstacles.

Formerly trained by Tom Mullins and now under the in-form Joe Tizzard, he has been on the track for quite some time but has been a very promising juvenile hurdler in 2022-23 and may be something of a handicap, who is running with a BHA mark of 126 on a stable debut.

Second to Zarak The Brave (now rated 152), sixth to Lossiemouth (156) in the Triumph and fourth to Zenta (143) in the big race at Aintree the spring before last, he last saw a well-deserved first win over hurdles in a cork girl.

The horses he beat that day clearly weren’t stars, but he beat them by a blank after the smoothest round of steeplechase you could ask for from a young jumper, and at that stage the future looked very bright indeed.

Tizzard recently revealed that a “slight stress fracture” kept Wrightsothom out of action all of last season, but also that he’s been doing well from the very early stage until the fall, and personally I’m not sure we’ll get many chances to back him in a handicap. from a fairly low mark.

With the stable running well and the odds in his favour, I’m seriously drawn to this horse with double-digit odds and I just have to include him in the betting plan.

Diego could be the one to score for Ballydoyle

At Wetherby, the absence of Gray Dawning due to drying up takes some (unfortunately quite a lot) away from the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase feature, although I’m not convinced that anything is drastically out of line with market expectations in the bet365 Hurdle or given third place in the Hurdle Championship, Lucia does bets as odds-on favorite.

The closest I’ve come to a card bet was the 102 underweight V Twelve in the Never Ordinary At bet365 Handicap Hurdle, but there should be a slight chance of Dan Skelton’s market leader Williethebuilder running it over the ground, leading to a significant Rule 4.

V Twelve, who was never third on his return to hurdling at Carlisle a fortnight ago, is sure to resort to a more conspicuous tactic here, where he won just 5lb further down the stretch and distance in March.

The ground was soft that day, but he is quite adaptable and has a fair turn of foot for such a big horse. He’s held his form well after winning over a mile and three furlongs on the Flat at Hamilton in the summer, and William Maggs’ claim of 5lb in the saddle isn’t bad either, but price-wise there’s just not enough meat on the bones . so that’s another one to watch with interest.

By the way, this was fascinating to read Daily racing uniformLocal reporter Steve Andersen said he felt the City Of Troy Classic Breeders’ Cup odds looked like this. “crazy low with english bookies” and I would be inclined to agree.

No one really knows how this top-class horse will handle the cut and thrust of the Classic, but he will be physically worse than some of his rivals on Saturday, and the conditions at Del Mar will obviously be worse. of those faced when he posted his career best at Juddmonte International in York.

I can’t help but look back at him climbing from Al Riffa on the soft ground Coral-Eclipse at Sandown earlier in the year and fear the worst.

Let’s hope he can overcome it all, but I couldn’t put anyone off Aidan O’Brien’s partner, Diego Velazquez, in the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile in about an hour on Saturday night UK time.

He has a good draw in the fourth stall and I believe he will be a very difficult horse on suitable fast turf if (when?) Ryan Moore goes straight in front.

A combined 8/1 for him to beat Notable Speech and Porta Fortuna looks perfectly fair, but doesn’t knock me off my seat.

Posted at 16:00 GMT on 01/11/24

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