Ascot Saturday ITV tips: Alex Hammond best bets

By Alex Hammond

15:01 · SAT November 04, 2023

She's heading to Ascot on Saturday and our columnist has her best bets for a fascinating card.

It’s hard to know which way to turn with the magnificent Breeders’ Cup front and centre on the racing scene this weekend and the jumps season now in full cry. Whilst the Breeders’ Cup was one of the meetings that shaped my love of the sport thanks to Arazi’s devastating performance in the 1991 Juvenile, (which scandalously only comes in at number 15 in the top 40 moments on the BC website) I’m going to bring you my selections from Ascot’s jumps fixture.

I’ll be there for Sky Sports Racing and have been through the card with a fine toothed comb. That was a tactic that worked well last week at Doncaster with four wins from my five selections, so let’s hope it pays off again on Saturday!

"Testing ground's ideal, goes from the front and has a great record fresh" Sodexo Live Gold Cup Tips

There are seven races at Ascot, and I have fancies in most of them. It appears, at the time of writing, that the track have had almost 64mm of rain through the week but may have missed some of the very heavy rain on Friday. There is some forecast on the day, so it could well ease up during the afternoon. It’s soft, good to soft in places at present.

We kick things off at 12.55pm with a conditional jockeys’ novices’ handicap hurdle. It’s Ed Keeper for me in this for a stable that look set for a successful season. Sam Thomas had a 36% strike rate in October and he’s becoming a serious operator with his string of jumpers in South Wales. What’s interesting about this progressive young horse is the entry he’s been given for a hot Haydock contest at the end of this month, and that would suggest there’s significant improvement to come.

Let’s hope a mark of 118 underestimates him. Nicky Henderson’s runner Immortal looks one of his main dangers, particularly with Freddie Gordon’s useful 6lb claim.

Race two is at 1.30pm and is a novices’ liimited handicap chase over 2 mile 3 furlongs. Trainer Gary Moore has won this twice in recent years and I hope Hermino AA can continue his good record. This horse is making his chasing debut, but Moore’s other two recent winners were also having their first starts over fences when they were successful. He’s a 5/1 shot with Sky Bet. The Jonjo O’Neill trained Are U Wise To That is favourite at 7/2 after a winning chasing debut at Warwick at the end of September.

Then it’s the first of the valuable handicaps and a £100,000 handicap chase at 2.05pm. It’s looks wide open but I’m hoping the Venetia Williams trained Funambule Sivola can fly round here on his return to handicap company. He’s a tasty 15/2 if a recent wind operation has done the trick, as he’s a horse that goes well when fresh. When he was last seen he was running in Grade One company, albeit well beaten. He was runner-up to Energumene in the 2022 Champion Chase though and has a touch of class.

Then we have a two-mile novices’ hurdle at 2.40pm, a race won by Altior back in 2015. Therefore, it could be significant that Nico de Boinville heads to Ascot, rather than Wetherby (which may be abandoned) to ride just the one horse for Nicky Henderson.

He rides Jango Baie, a horse that cost £170,000 back in February after finishing second in his sole Irish point to point. If Wetherby is lost to waterlogging, then Brook Bay could be rerouted to Ascot as he has two declarations (Wetherby is his first preference). He’s trained by Jonjo O’Neill and cost a whopping £380,000 after winning an Irish point and is from the family of Desert Orchid. He’s one to watch and this is shaping up to be a decent little contest. It’s Jango Baie for me though.

A two-mile handicap hurdle is next at 3.15pm. I’m siding with 5/1 second favourite Rare Middleton for Paul Nicholls. He’s got no weight to carry here, which is eye-catching given he’s been described as a very smart horse by his trainer in the past. Nicholls felt enough of him to try him in the Adonis at Kempton back in February but after that he disappointed on his handicap debut in March. He’s had a wind op, and I hope he can bounce back before going onto bigger things.

Then the second of the £100,000 races at 3.45pm, and this time a three-mile handicap chase. There will be one or two here with the Grand National as a long term target, and one of those is likely to be Monbeg Genius for Jonjo O’Neill. He’s 7/2 joint favourite alongside Beauport for Nigel Twiston-Davies. Monbeg Genius was progressive as a novice chaser last season and signed off his campaign with an excellent third place in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival.

He gets the soft ground that he needs and looks exciting in the staying division for connections. Mucho Mas is also one I’d like to keep on side. He’s 6/1, and I’d hoped he'd be bigger, as he could well run into a place. He doesn’t have much weight to carry and there looks more to come from him as a staying chaser. His trainer Ben Pauling is yet to hit top gear, but after his best season to date in 2022-23, it’s a matter of time before they get going.

That should warm you up nicely before the fanfare of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita on Saturday night.

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