Betfair ambassador Paul Nicholls guides you through his Newbury Saturday team.
13:50 - Amour de Nuit
We found the right race for him on New Year’s day at Musselburgh where he won tidily but this will be a fair bit tougher as he was subsequently raised 7lbs by the handicapper to a mark of 142. While he could do with the ground drying up he is reliable, at his best on a flat track and deserves a shot at a race we have won nine times.
13:50 - Tamaroc Du Mathan
The Greatwood has always been the plan since he ran well for a long way behind Dolos at Sandown a month ago. That was his first outing since a tie forward operation to tidy up his breathing and he has improved plenty for the outing. Although the ground on the Chase track at Newbury is never too deep I’d be fancying Tamaroc Du Mathan more if the going was not soft.
14:27 - Irish Hill
He was disappointing last time at Ascot on really testing ground when some of ours were not running great. But he looked useful when winning on his debut for us at Taunton at the end of December and has a nice handicap mark of 107. The more it dries up at Newbury the better his chance.
15:02 - Wild Max
He didn’t take to chasing at Ludlow but ran a bit better last time at Musselburgh. While he has been dropped to a mark of 133 I’d say he is still handicapped to the hilt. He is also another of mine who would prefer better ground conditions.
16:12 - Mont Des Avaloirs
I’ve always felt he would make a decent chaser but he has had loads of problems over the years and missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury after a horrible fall at Chepstow in October. He needed his comeback run at Wincanton in January and will probably need this race as well to put him right. When the ground dries up in the spring he should be ready to go.
16:47 - Captain Destiny
He is a lovely prospect who ran a race full of promise on his debut at Newbury in January when second to Authorised Speed who had very smart form. He was doing all his best work in the last half mile and should again give a good account on Saturday. I really like Captain Destiny who is not really a bumper horse and will not come into his own until he goes hurdling in the autumn.
Best chance: Captain Destiny. With the soft ground at Newbury against most of my runners I’m hopeful rather than confident that Captain Destiny will again be competitive.
