Timeform TV Focus: ITV racing tips on Saturday

The Timeform TV Focus team provide their best bets on all the ITV action!

The crack team of analysts, reporters, and handicappers behind their world-renowned data and ratings help you find more value every week with leading insight and winning picks.

You can now take advantage of their decades of racing knowledge for free with Sporting Life Plus, available from 11am on the morning of all ITV racedays.

Ffos Las

1.15 No Bet Advised

A bigger field than usual for the Towton (normally held at Wetherby) but, in truth, it’s hard to get excited about anything at the odds on Friday afternoon. There’s little to choose on Timeform ratings between the three at the head of the betting – Handstands, Cherie d’Am and Saint Davy – and, whilst the last-named is arguably open to more progress as a chaser than the other pair, for us that’s likely to be over longer distances than this extended 19f. It’s hard to make a sufficiently compelling case for any of the other four, however, Hillcrest probably the one that remains capable of better over fences but with a few too many doubts to justify backing him to prove it in this company. All in all, it’s a race we can probably afford to leave alone in the hope of better opportunities elsewhere.

2.25 1 pt – 3 Diamatiste

It’s hard to get away from Diamatiste in this. Admittedly, he’s gone up 5 lb after making the frame in a couple of handicaps already this season, but that rise was fully justified after finding only an improver too good in a big field at Exeter last time. Diamatiste pulled a long way clear of the third (who has since run well over fences) that day and has wisely been given more than three weeks to recover. A reproduction of that effort will surely see him thereabouts once more, and his small yard continues to go well with the few runners they’ve sent out over the last month or so.   

2.58 1 pt – 10 Alan de Banks

This quite competitive by staying handicap hurdle standards and it should be run at a proper gallop, too, several of these known for their tendency to be ridden from/near the front. That should suit One Big Bang, who didn’t find the emphasis sufficiently on stamina in a steadily-run race at Cheltenham last time out but, prior to that, had run a cracker in the Haydock mud on Betfair Chase day. This should be more his bag and Henry Brooke is an interesting jockey booking, but there’s surely no juice in a general price of 9/4 on Friday afternoon. Similar comments re. price apply to Rosscahill, who gallops as though he’s about to tip over but is 2/2 over hurdles so far, both at this course. The step up to 3m should be right up his street given how he’s shaped so far, but there’s a possibility he could get involved in an early tussle for the lead and there are others that can be considered at much bigger prices. One such horse is Alan de Banks, who like Rosscahill goes handicapping after only a couple of starts over hurdles. A dual bumper winner (disqualified from one) from just three goes, Alan de Banks has shaped encouragingly in a couple of maidens here and at Bangor and has a pedigree and run-style that suggests he’ll be at least as effective over this longer trip. Sean Bowen being back in the saddle is an added bonus.

3.31 0.5 pt ew – 7 Art of Diplomacy

Another competitive-looking race, though finding much in the way of value towards the head of the market is tricky. Maybe Ostrava du Berlais is still a long way ahead of her mark, but she’s taking on much better opposition from much higher in the weights than when smashing up a poor bunch at Taunton last time out and doesn’t have an experienced 5-lb claimer up this time, either. The prolific Beat Box has also shot up the weights after running away with a thin race at Kelso on his most recent outing and, all things considered, we’d rather have an each-way stab at a big-priced one. Art of Diplomacy has done most of his racing over jumps at longer trips and it’s perfectly possible he’ll find this return to 2m inadequate, but at the same time he’s never been an out-and-out sluggard and showed enough on his chasing debut here last month to believe he can prove as good over fences as hurdles when things fall right, handily weighted on the pick of his hurdles form and likely to benefit from the probable strong gallop with Keep Running in the field.

Chelmsford

1.30 1 pt – 10 Albert Lasker 

Carlton is the obvious starting point in this handicap as he’s three from three for James Owen and put up his best effort yet when scoring by a wide margin at this track on Thursday. A 5-lb penalty isn’t really a concern, but he is facing a two-day turnaround and will more than likely try to come from well off the pace. Admittedly, that that hasn’t stopped him so far, but this will probably be steadily-run and such tactics are more likely to be a hindrance than a benefit. There aren’t many appealing alternatives, but there is a case to make for the other last-time winner in, Albert Lasker. He’d been knocking on the door prior to getting off the mark over this trip at Southwell in December and the next-time win of the runner-up suggests some merit to the form. What’s more, he’s a prominent racer who should be well placed if this develops as expected.

2.10 1 pt – 10 Ravensbourne 

Ravensbourne is one of several in this field seeking a first win, but she’s in the minority arriving in good form following good thirds on each of her last three outings. The most recent came in a considerably tougher handicap than this at Newcastle won by the thriving Angel of Antrim, and she was a bit better than the result that day considering she was forced to switched two furlongs out. She’s off a lower mark in a worse race now, and while stall 12 may not be ideal, she’s got one of the better and more in-form jockeys in Cieren Fallon to help overcome that.

2.40 0.5 pt ew – 14 Mr Baloo

There are plenty in with chances in what should be a cracking handicap. With bookmakers paying out on five or even six places, it’s probably a race to tackle each-way, and Mr Baloo has something going for him at double-figure odds. He finished out the back at Lingfield last time, but that sharp test over seven furlongs was no use to him, and prior to that he’d shaped okay in a couple of races over the same trip at Kempton, both times looking to be crying out for a return to a mile. That’s what he gets here, and he’s now 5 lb below the mark he defied for his most recent win at Kempton in May, with Joe Leavy (on board that day) back up claiming 3 lb and blinkers on for the first time

3.15 1 pt – 6 Batal Dubai

Jack Morland has made an outrageously impressive start to his training career and Batal Dubai did his bit when scoring over seven furlongs at Lingfield on New Year’s Eve on his second outing for the stable. He’s gone up just 2 lb for that win to a mark of 83, and there’s plenty of form in the book to suggest he’s still well treated. Indeed, he was competitive off a mark in the low-90s around this time last year, and actually won a course-and-distance handicap off 87 late in 2023. That suggests the return to this trip won’t be a problem, especially in a race that should be well-run courtesy of We Never Stop, Blind Beggar and maybe Sevensees, and it’s hard to agree with current odds that suggest there are three in the field with a better chance than him.

Newcastle

2.00 1 pt – 1 Sol Cayo

This is reasonably competitive with several arriving in good heart but there’s a feeling that Sol Cayo will make up into a useful all-weather handicapper this winter, in which case he should be too good for his rivals under top weight. He’s certainly very effective on tapeta, his form figures on the surface reading 2121, and he was impressive when a wide-margin winner over course and distance when last seen in mid-December. A 7 lb rise looks perfectly fair judged on that, and as a lightly raced five-year-old who’ll be having just his fifth outing for his current stable, Sol Cayo should have even more to offer.

3.45 0.5 pt – 3 Bobby Joe Leg

This is pretty trappy but the prices on offer make Timeform top-rated Bobby Joe Leg an easy selection. He’s not going to be getting any better aged 11 but he did manage four wins on the spin this time last year and he’s finally edged back down the weights after some rather stingy treatment from the handicapper during the spring and autumn. Obviously, he’ll need to step up on some of his recent efforts to get competitive – he’s finished in mid-field in course-and-distance handicaps on all five starts since returning from a mid-year break – but it’s notable that his last eight wins have come in blinkers and that aid is now fitted for the first time since April.

Fairyhouse

1.45 1 pt – 6 Lets Go Champ

An open-looking renewal of this long-standing handicap and not easy to even predict what will go off favourite, let alone come out on top, but it does look as though Let Go Champ is at longer odds than might have been anticipated on Friday afternoon. He’s been very lightly raced for a 10-y-o but the infrequency of his appearances has never affected his consistency, his third behind Il Ridoto in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham last time out being arguably a career best. The fact that Lets Go Champ hasn’t raced over this short a trip since his debut is evidently a concern to some, but for us he’s well worth a try back around the minimum distance, being a smooth-travelling, accurate jumper when he’s properly on his game. He traded as low as 2/1 in-running in the Paddy Power and could be better equipped for this different test than many people expect.

You can access the TV Focus selections and rationale at 5pm the evening before racing for £7.50 on the Timeform website.

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.