NOTHING MYSTERIOUS ABOUT ANDRE'S CHANCES

Newbury hold their Betfair Hurdle meeting today but it is by no means a one race card. The Game Spirit and Denman Chase's certainly make for a brilliant day's action from the Berkshire track.

The Game Spirit Chase (3:00) is a fascinating encounter. This Grade Two sees the return of reigning Champion Chaser Sire De Grugy, after a 287-day absence. He's clearly the best horse in the race (eleven pounds clear of anything else) but he's not likely to be fully tuned up for this, with Cheltenham surely being his main goal. Sprinter Sacre met defeat on his reappearance after a lengthy break and it would be no surprise if the same was to happen to Gary Moore's four-time Grade One winner.

The selection is UXIZANDRE. He looked a very smart individual when he won the Shloer Chase, thanks to some impeccable jumping under front running tactics. His run last time out at Leopardstown was poor but heavy ground was probably accountable for that. Although the ground is soft today, it won't be as deep as his most recent run and is well worth a shot. If he can get into a good rhythm at his fences, Barry Geraghty may be able to steer him to victory.

Uxizandre (green and yellow) beating Dodging Bullets, who has
since won two Grade 1's.

The slight worry is that three-fifths of this field like to front run. My selection, together with Mr Mole and Upsilon Bleu, will all be vying for the lead. However, Alan King's runner is the best on figures out of the trio so hopefully he can boss the other four in a similar fashion to how he beat Simply Ned and Dodging Bullets at Cheltenham.

The enigmatic Mr Mole has looked a reformed character since adopting front running tactics but two victories over Brick Red are not good enough to see him figure here. That's no disrespect to Brick Red, he's a respectable handicapper but only that; Mr Mole will have to put in a career best effort. The same applies for Upsilon Bleu and Karinga Dancer.


The Betfair Hurdle (3:35) is as competitive as ever, so much so that you could give at least a dozen of these chances. It was very hard to whittle this line-up down, I have managed to get it to four. Given the last eight renewals have been won by lightly raced five and six year olds, it could pay to side with horses in this age bracket.

First of all, there's CALIPTO. Unlucky in the Triumph hurdle last year when Daryl Jacob's stirrup snapped, the fact he managed to finish fourth that day is testament to is ability. Another solid run followed that in the Aintree equivalent and his latest run was behind his Triumph conqueror in Tiger Roll, once again at Cheltenham. Paul Nicholls reports him to be in fine form for this and he's two from two at the course. Not too dissimilar to Zarkandar, who won this for Nicholls in 2012.


Second and third selections are the Harry Fry pair of ACTIVIAL and JOLLY'S CRACKED IT. Any of his runners need respect at Newbury, given he's got a 47%  strike rate here. The former was a fairly smart juvenile and was warmly fancied on his seasonal reappearance in the Ladbroke, given his lofty reputation. He'll have come along nicely for that and certainly has a big chance here. The latter was chasing a four-timer in the Tolworth but found the highly touted, Supreme hopeful L'Ami Serge far too strong. He hasn't got him to contend with today and looks to be a big player.

Calipto (left) and Activial (right) battling it out on
their British debuts.

Jolly's Cracked It

One at a bigger price is ARZAL. His win at Kempton ahead of perennial runner-up West Wizard was relatively good form but perhaps stronger form was his third behind the smart pair of Jollyallan and Sempre Medici. He was fairly well beaten that day but the fact that Jollyallan has the Supreme in his sights whilst Sempre Medici lines up in a Grade One at Leopardstown tomorrow shows the calibre of the horses that beat him. A seven pound claimer will aid his cause on handicap debut; there is no way he should be 33/1.

Arzal

The Grade 2 Denman Chase completes my preview of the three main races at Newbury. Five of the last seven running's of this have been won by seven year olds (the two years excluded featured one without any seven year olds lining up whilst the other year saw the horse who this race is named after win at 1/4).

Therefore, the only horse of that age in the field, UNIONISTE looks to be a contender. He's had his problems with ulcers but he seemed to have put those behind him when sluicing up at Sandown last time out. Albeit, that was only a handicap but his best bits of form previous to that give him an excellent chance here.

Unioniste

I'm also going to give TAQUIN DU SEUIL another chance this afternoon. Last year's JLT winner looked to be getting back to somewhere near his best when second behind Menorah in the Charlie Hall Chase but ran a stinker in the Betfair Chase when pulled up a long way out after some sloppy jumping. However, Jonjo O'Neill's horses were running very poorly then, so it is heartening to see them well and truly back amongst the winners. It is also good to see him with AP McCoy on board again, as they seem to gel well together. If he's back to his very best, he could be the one to beat here.

Taquin Du Seuil

Coneygree too has a chance but he hasn't really faced a proper task in his two chase starts to date, as most of his opposition fell by the wayside. Today will give a proper insight into just how talented he is.


Enjoy your Saturday!


Happy Punting