AUTHOR: Star Sports Content
STAR RACING PREVIEW Sat: Cheltenham, Doncaster & Newbury
It’s a great time of year to be a racing fan, with an excellent early season card at Cheltenham for the second day of the Showcase Meeting, and the final domestic Group 1 of the season on the flat, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.
There’s also a good card at Newbury too including some group action to get stuck into on a bumper day’s action.
Our brand ambassador Harry Skelton had a cracking Friday, taking the two big prizes with Fortune De Mer and Calico respectively. He’s got a solid book of rides for today – check out his assessment below.
And our flat ambassador George Boughey is also in action, with runners at Doncaster and Wolverhampton to boot – click below for his analysis!
Last but never least, see how we fared on the pitch with Simon Nott’s betting blog!
⭐ STAR SPORTS RACING MARKETS ⭐
Doncaster
2:05 – William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes (Group 1) (No Geldings) (Class 1) (2yo) 1m (Str)
There has been a fair amount of market movement in the build-up to this, with Irish Champions Weekend winner Benvenuto Cellini and Beresford Stakes Winner Hawk Mountain taking different directions in the market early on, whilst fellow Ballydoyle contender Action has shortened massively and we unfortunately don’t have the promising Item due to the testing conditions here.
Oxagon is a promising colt who’s probably better than he showed when fifth in the Dewhurst but that might have taken the edge off him slightly, and Ballydoyle will have plenty of good lines to judge him with, given that they’ve sent out horses who have beaten him on his last two starts. Rochfortbridge is a nice horse but one’s who appears to have reached his level after four starts so this could be heading right back to Ireland and Benvenuto Cellini gets the call based on his cumulative form. He showed a blistering turn of foot to get the better of Hardy Warrior in the Juvenile Stakes for the second time, a performance that is even more impressive when taking the form of Hardy Warrior’s maiden stakes into account.
On that occasion, Joseph O’Brien’s colt beat next time out winners South Island and Montreal by 3¾ & 6¼ respectively, whilst the Zetland Stakes winner Pierre Bonnard was further behind in fourth. Today will require more fight against two talented stablemates, but his Killarney success with some dig in the ground (beat Zetland Stakes runner-up Endorsement) suggests there’s plenty of stamina in reserve, and it would be a surprise if he was being sent here with major ground concerns. With midweek market moves perhaps giving a better price, he’s taken to give Cristophe Soumillion yet another big race win for Ballydoyle.
Cheltenham
2:20 – William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4yo+) 3m1f (Old)
Course form is ever so important here and there’s plenty of it on show in a fiendishly difficult test. That said, the answer may lie at the very head of the market in The Short Go, who has a fine chance of giving Henry de Bromhead a third straight win in this if he can put in a decent round. That was not the case when he was a very creditable fifth in the Ultima, when relatively close up in the chasing pack behind the wide margin winner and total handicap blot Myretown. He didn’t give his running at Punchestown after, but that effort suggests he can win off 132, and he’s only 6lbs higher than when a slightly unlucky second last year to Senior Chief, who was then sixth in the Coral Gold Cup and Grand National afterwards.
The other horse against the field is Transmission, who was slightly frustrating for backers after taking the Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase here at the November meeting last year. Previously, he’d been slammed by Hyland (beaten 15lbs, getting 5lbs, but now 10lbs better off) but he looked much happier in a bigger field and was arguably given too much to do twice when behind Haiti Coleurs here in December and in the National Hunt Chase, closing with credit on both occasions. He should get a good gallop to run at here and if able to take closer order, can give backers a good run for their money.
Of the rest, Hyland is a massive player here – albeit one that the market has very much realised, with the possibility of bigger targets down the line. In a stacked field we also have Rock My Way, who was a fine second in the National Hunt Chase before a credible fifth in the Scottish National (albeit with a poor round of jumping), Hoe Joly Smoke, who’s well handicapped if bringing his best form from Sandown last season whilst Sean Bowen has been booked by Emmet Mullins and Paul Byrne for Backmersackme – make of that what you will. 10-year-old Dunboyne was fourth in the Irish National having won the Ulster Version and is another who needs respect.
2:55 – Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle (Pertemps Hurdle Series Qualifier) (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4yo+) 3m1f (Old)
A very good contest here, and one where it might be worth taking the market leaders against the field. Long Draw produced a withering late run to take a similar contest at the April meeting under Sean Bowen (who else for a power-packed ride?) and then found Haydock too flat when almost doing the same but just running out of road behind Harbour Lake and Tiny Tetley. A return to Cheltenham should suit him down to the ground and he’ll take some stopping if he’s on song. Olly Murphy’s recent form – a scarcely believable 9 winners in his last 12 runners – provides plenty of encouragement.
Gordon Elliot is a man who always has horses on his travels and his runners yesterday – bar King of Kingsfield – ran respectably which gives encouragement for a bold show from Winning Smut. He’s only been with the Elliot yard for three runs and two of those have been wins, the latter a comprehensive success in a Listed hurdle at the Galway Festival when Chart Topper was third. Another step up from that will give him every chance.
In another race with plenty of depth, Sermandzarak, Quatumn Quest, and Ma Shantou all made the longlist.
4:40 – Oddschecker Open National Hunt Flat Race (Category 1 Elimination) (GBB Race) (Class 2) (4-5yo) 2m½f (2m87y) (Old)
Potential is the name of the game here and there’s a lot of improvement to come from the field, but Le Beau Madrik is too tempting to pass up here for the Skeltons. He played a small part in last season’s title battle when second to a Willie Mullins-trained newcomer in a Plumpton bumper (arguably going the better around the home straight), when drawing seven lengths clear of a previous winner in third, albeit with a penalty. That suggests he is at least useful – as does the fact he makes his reappearance here – and hopefully he will be less green under pressure. He’ll need to fufill his promise to get the better of Chicker, who beat two next-time-out winners at Worcester in August, but the penalty will hopefully help.
Newbury
3:10 – BetVictor Horris Hill Stakes (Group 3) (Colts & Geldings) (Class 1) (2yo) 7f
As with many juvenile races at this time of year, there’s a wide open contest for punters to consider and a chance is taken on Stellar Sunrise for Andrew Balding. Beaten twice in good maidens back in the summer, he took a valuable prize and a decent scalp when landing a Glorious Goodwood contest, beating the previous Royal Ascot eighth Naval Light in fine style. That horse has since finished third in a fair running of the Convivial Stakes, with the second going one better next time and finishing fourth in the Zetland Stakes and the fourth taking the same position in the Goffs Million at the Curragh behind subsequent Killavullan Stakes winner Dorset.
Stellar Sunrise took advantage of a nice mark of 88 to take a valuable nursery at the Ebor meeting in clear-cut style, looking like a pattern horse in the making, and that form was done no harm by the runner-up landing a listed contest next time out. The big chance here is the ground – it’s softer than he’s raced on before by a good distance – but if he handles underfoot conditions, then he’s well worth his chance in this grade, albeit in an open contest.
RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Benvenuto Cellini in the 2.05 Doncaster 3 pts at 6/5 (⭐
CLICK TO BET NOW)
BACK The Short Go in the 2.20 Cheltenham 1 pt at 9/2 (⭐
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BACK Transmission in the 2.20 Cheltenham 1 pt each/way at 7/1 (⭐
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BACK Long Draw in the 2.55 Cheltenham 1 pt at 9/2 (⭐
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BACK Winning Smut in the 2.55 Cheltenham 1 pt at 6/1 (⭐
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BACK Stellar Sunrise in the 3.10 Newbury 1 pt at 7/2 (⭐
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BACK Le Beau Madrik in the 4.40 Cheltenham 2 pts at 3/1 (⭐
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PROFIT/LOSS (OCT 2025): -9.87 points
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