Timeform TV Focus: ITV racing tips on Sunday

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Cheltenham

1.35 - Primoz

This is a cracking novice handicap full of potential, not least in the shape of chasing debutant Peaky Boy, but at the odds Scottish raider Primoz is a straightforward selection. He not only tops the Timeform ratings among those with experience over fences, courtesy of an impressive win at Wetherby last month, but he also has a large P, denoting the likelihood of significant progress to come. He won two of his four outings over hurdles last season, but always looked very much a chasing type and couldn’t have made a much smoother transition at Wetherby, when powering through the race and far from all out to see off Pay The Piper, who’d won the time before and scored by six lengths next time. Even a 9 lb rise looks totally inadequate with that in mind, and that’s without accounting for Primoz’s considerable potential, with this step up in trip – he’s by no means short of speed but has a stamina-laden pedigree – highly likely to suit.

2.20 - No Bet Advised

There wasn’t much between Calico and Matata when the pair finished first and second respectively over C&D back in October, and it’s hard to separate them this time as well. Matata might be able to dominate all the more in this smaller field and also has a token 1 lb pull at the weights, but Calico did perhaps idle in front, and with little between them at the odds and neither of the other two massively appealing first time back, this looks one to sit out.

2.55 - Abuffalosoldier

As might be expected for a Premier Handicap, this is a keenly-contested race of its type and it’s easy to make good cases for several. Monbeg Genius is interesting on his Coral Cup form with the O’Neill yard very much been amongst the winners of late, Scottish National runner-up Surrey Quest has a good record fresh and is still relatively unexposed at distances beyond 3m, whilst bottom-weight Hymac is a second-season chaser who’s already proved his well-being this time round with a ready success over hurdles and is the type to go on again this winter. It’s therefore not with huge confidence that Abuffalosoldier is suggested as the best bet at the prices, but he does seem sure to give a bold account. He took a while to find his feet as a chaser but has thrived since asked to go from the front, impressing with his bold jumping and often digging deep for pressure. His fitness is guaranteed after a solid comeback run behind an unexposed one at Exeter and, with headgear back on, it’s hard to see why he wouldn’t again run his race for a yard that’s going notably well at the minute.

3.30 – Burdett Road

The Greatwood is almost always a smashing handicap hurdle and the 2024 renewal is no exception. The place to start has to be with the unbeaten favourite Dysart Enos, forced to sit out the Cheltenham Festival through lameness but who starts life in handicaps from a potentially generous mark as a result, her ability surely still untapped after three hurdling starts against inferior rivals. It’ll be no surprise at all if she proves herself a handicap snip, but the same can also be said about Burdett Road and he’s a bigger price. He did meet with one defeat as a juvenile last season but it was at the hands of Sir Gino and his subsequent performances on the Flat last year firmly suggest that the best of him has yet to be seen as a hurdler. He ran to a smart level when running away from a very promising 3-y-o in a listed event at Newmarket on his penultimate start then lost nothing in defeat when upped to 2m behind Kyprios in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot on the latest. Burdett’s run style should be really well suited to the demands of a well-run, big-field handicap and, with underfoot conditions as they are, his Flat speed seems sure to hold him in fine stead.

Fontwell

2.05 – Hauraki Gulf

Not a strong renewal of this regional National, the first time since 2012 that the top weight hasn’t run from a mark in the 130s or higher, Unanswered Prayers heading the weights this year from an official mark of 126, no doubt a symptom of faltering prize money, the purse less than it was for the race in 2010. Only one winner in that period has returned at double-figure odds, and that was when 15 went to post in 2016, with most of those successful being right towards the fore of the betting, clearly not a race in which it pays to think much outside the box therefore, and Hauraki Gulf, second on his last three starts, fits the bill. A dual winner over fences last season, connections have been able to utilise his status as a novice hurdler to help put him right this autumn (ran well at Cheltenham last time), and he’s shaped a few times like he’ll be suited by a greater test of stamina than he’s had so far which, even on a sound surface, he should get here. His small stable has been punching above its weight for a little while, and this could be a flagship winner for the yard on terrestrial TV.

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

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