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Free horse racing tips: Best Bets for Doncaster on Saturday
Andrew Asquith looks ahead to Doncaster on Saturday and has two recommended bets, including one in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes.
Weekend View: Saturday October 26
1pt win Aberama Gold in the 2.05 Doncaster at 10/1 (Bet365, 9/1 Sky Bet, Unibet)
1pt win Anno Domini in the 2.40 Doncaster at 10/1 (General)
And just like that, Cheltenham is back! It looks a very open card, too. There are five races priced up at the time of writing and I’ve looked through them all, but I don’t feel strongly enough about anything at the current prices at present, so I’m happy to sit back and watch the action rather than have any financial interest.
Elsewhere, there are competitive cards on the Flat at Doncaster and Newbury, and the final Group 1 of the year takes place at the former course, the Futurity Trophy Stakes.
It is a race that Aidan O’Brien has an excellent record in and recent Autumn Stakes winner Delacroix looks to be his main hope in this year’s renewal. He proved himself a smart performer at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago, impressing with how he knuckled down to narrowly prevail from another game rival, but I don’t think that performance is anything to be too scared of.
Wimbledon Hawkeye is a horse who I’ve a lot of time for and he rightly heads the betting, while Detain is totally unexposed and could be anything, but he will need to prove himself just as effective on turf.
I like the claims of a similarly unexposed type who I think is too big at around 10/1 and that is the Charlie Appleby-trained ANNO DOMINI.
His sales price rocketed to 525,000 guineas at the breeze-ups earlier this year and he looked a bright prospect when making a winning debut over an extended six furlongs at Newbury in June. He overcame some adversity that day, too, receiving a bump early in the race, but shrugging it off and moving easily into the lead on the far wing.
Anno Domini looked like he would stretch clear in the final furlong to record a comfortable success, but he didn’t do anything once in front, idling and displaying clear signs of greenness. He had much more in hand than the official margin suggests and that form hasn’t worked out too badly, either.
He again started a short-price favourite when following up over seven furlongs at Sandown in July and he was just as impressive once more despite not winning by a wide margin.
Anno Domini did everything smoothly during the race, having to be niggled a little around two furlongs out to get on to the leaders’ quarters, but breezing up besides him and easily moving into the lead without being subjected to maximum pressure. He idled again once hitting the front, but he has left the impression on both of his starts to date that he has much more to offer when the time demands it.
The form of that Sandown race is strong, too, the runner-up bolting up at York next time and has since finished third in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at the Curragh, while the third and fourth have also won subsequently and reached a useful level of form.
A slight concern is that we haven’t seen Anno Domini since, suggesting he may have suffered some sort of setback, and he also holds an entry in the Horris Hill at Newbury on Saturday. However, William Buick is currently jocked up on him for this race (he has no jockey attached in the Horris Hill) and Buick spoke quite highly of him after he rode him on his debut, stating: “I think he'll go on to much better things and a mile will definitely be within his compass further down the line."
The ground is currently soft at Doncaster, but the forecast is mild for the remainder of the week with not much rain about, so the ground should be drying all the time and will probably be on the soft side of good.
Price always comes first in this column and he just looks too big to me at 10/1. He is a horse who clearly has an abundance of ability and his time off the track since could actually be a blessing in disguise, allowing him to mature and strengthen where needed. He’s also Appleby’s sole entry in the Futurity, a race he won 12 months ago with Ancient Wisdom.
Staying at Doncaster, I’m giving ABERAMA GOLD another chance to belatedly take advantage of his lowly mark. I selected him in this space at Haydock three starts back and, though he didn’t have any obvious excuse that day, he has shaped quite a bit better than the bare result on his last two starts a York and Catterick last weekend.
He struggled to get into contention at York from a less-than-ideal draw, that race dominated by the low numbers while he broke from stall 13, and a bare five furlongs at York is probably on the sharp side for him now even on easy ground.
Catterick is another track that doesn’t really suit his hold-up style but he again left the impression he’s ready to strike on Saturday, not ideally positioned making his challenge furthest away from the stand-side rail in the straight, but staying on well for fourth behind Vintage Clarets.
The ground should still have some ease in it at Doncaster, which will suit him well, while his record at the track is also very positive. His form figures at Doncaster read 12232010, the two duck eggs coming in the last two renewals of the Portland, and he won this race in good style 12 months ago from an 11lb higher mark.
The more galloping nature of Doncaster allows him to travel into his race nicely and, while he is currently 2lb out of the handicap as things stand, he will have a very low weight and it is interesting that connections have quickly acquired the services of Hollie Doyle.
Aberama Gold isn’t getting any younger and it has clearly been an underwhelming season for him, but his handicap mark reflects that and he showed at Catterick on Saturday that he still has enthusiasm for the game. There is one firm going 10/1, but the 9/1 and 8/1 available also looks fair to me, so I’m happy to go in again.
Preview posted at 1555 BST on 22/10/2024
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