After a tidy winner on Sunday, Rory Delargy and David Massey look ahead to Monday's racing and pick out the best bets at current prices.
Racing betting tips: Monday December 29
1pt win Ideal Des Bordes in 13:50 Newbury at 9/1 (General) - take no lower
1pt e.w. Peacenik in 14:22 Newbury at 8/1 (William Hill, BetVictor 1/5 1,2,3,4) - min 7/1
1pt win Rightsotom in 15:35 Newbury at 9/1 (General) - min 8/1
13:50 Newbury
IDEAL DES BORDES isn’t the most obvious pick here, but there’s a sense he’s coming back to himself after a series of moderate runs. Last time at Sandown, he showed more signs of life in finishing fourth to Welcom To Cartriers when equipped with blinkers for the first time.
Ideal des Bordes travelled well at Sandown and made a promising move to challenge at the Pond Fence before weakening on the run to the final fence. That was a big step up on what he’d achieved on previous starts, but also hinted that he could progress again in terms of fitness.
This flatter track and better ground will suit, and he’s become well handicapped due to his spell in the wilderness.
14:22 Newbury
PEACENIK’s jumping let him down at times last year, but avoided errors when third at Exeter on his return and looked a different horse at Doncaster last time, finally getting his act together and jumping much more fluently.
He’s always had an impressive engine, and is capable of running his rivals ragged now that flaws in his jumping technique have seemingly been ironed out. At Doncaster he and odds-on George’s Lad pulled a long way clear, and a 5lb rise looks more than fair.
15:00 Newbury
The market says No Drama This End is a good thing, and he’s been impressive in winning Grade 2 events at Cheltenham and Sandown. On the other hand, he’s a very short price even considering the nature of those wins, and I thought the C&D event in which Klimt Madrik beat Kalkbrenner wasn’t far behind those Graded races in terms of quality and the runner-up, who was conceding weight to Klimt Madrik then, is taken to reverse the form and cause a minor shock.
When Kalkbrenner won a maiden hurdle at Ffos Las in October, he was followed home by a trio of future winners, including Klimt Madrik, and the form of the race looks very strong for the level. He improved despite being turned over here last time, giving best by a head when meeting Klimt Madrik on 6lb worse terms than at Ffos Las.
Both look that they will continue to improve, but Kalkbrenner looks the pick at level weights and is capable of putting it up to the odds-on favourite here.
15:35 Newbury
This isn’t the deepest contest to close the card. Guard The Moon, top weight and a ready winner over Kdeux Saint Fray at Aintree, will be rightly popular, especially with the runner-up franking that form since. I’d prefer him to Bangor winner Newton Tornado at this trip, with the latter looking a proper stayer last time and still inclined to make mistakes.
It’s possible, though, that the best value will come via RIGHTSOTOM. He’s been quietly finding form this season, and though only fourth of five at Doncaster last time, it was a strong race and he was only just over four lengths adrift at the line. The handicapper dropped him a pound for that, and I can see him beating Newton Tornado for the right to dictate terms, and he may be hard to pass if finding a solid rhythm in front.
Preview posted 09:12 GMT on 29/12/25
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