Six races on Channel Four from Kempton and Chepstow, and Irish trainer Gordon Elliott sends over one of his most exciting prospects who is strongly fancied to score at 5-2. Find out more about his potential star and the other value bets in our armchair race by race guide.
2.00 Kempton - Any runner sent over by shrewd Irish trainer Gordon Elliott always merits plenty of respect and his Grey Soldier is strongly fancied to get the better of the unbeaten Salden Licht.
There is no secret that Elliott holds Grey Soldier in th highest regard, and after finishing an excellent second to Neptune favourite Rite of Passage he broke his duck at the third time of asking when comfortably scoring on testing ground at Naas. That win showed that he was clearly going the right way, and his turn of foot is expected to prove decisive this afternoon on a track which should play to his strengths. He rates a maximum 10pt bet at 5-2. The obvious danger is Alan King's Salden Licht, but he did not impress me when scrambling home last time out. He looks like more of a grinder than a speed merchant to me and could be found wanting on such a tight track at this.
2.25 Chepstow - With the going bottomless at the Welsh track it could pay to take a chance on bottom weight All Sonsilver. The 13-year-old loves heavy going and ran his best race since scoring at this track more than three years ago when finsihing third at Towcester last time out. He raced from well out of the handicap that day but stayed on really well to be beaten just a length by the heavily backed The Thirstybricky. A repeat of that run would put him bang there today, and with useful conditional John Kington taking a further 5lb of his back he makes plenty of appeal at 5-1 in a shocking looking contest.
2.30 Kempton - Paul Nicholls is going for his fifth win in a row in this contest and it's very hard to oppose his representative The Nightingale. The seven-year-old put in a a superb round of jumping on his chasing debut at Fontwell to beat the useful Chariot Charger by 16 lengths and looks head and shoulders above his rivals. He is the only one in the field who has competed in Grade 1 company and is held in very high regard at Ditcheat. He has reportedly thrived in recent weeks and if taking this in style will line-up for the RSA at the Festival. He's currently a top priced 4-6 shot, and that price will tempt plenty as in reality he should be 1-2 in this weak line-up.
3.05 Kempton - I put up Madison Du Berlais as the value at 8-1 yesterday - see http://www.puntinplay.com/story/mad-about-8-1-madison - and see no reason to desert David Pipe's classy chaser. He is the class act in the field, acts on soft going and in my view should not be a bigger price than Nacarat on their King George running. He improved when fitted with cheek pieces, and having raced lazily in the King George connections have swapped them for first time blinkers. If they have the desired effect and Tom Scu can get him into a nice rhythm over the first few fences I can see him outclassing thye opposition. The biggest danger could be Private Be, who has won three out of four races going right handed and looks well handicapped with the heavily fancied Kilcrea Castle on a form line through The Sawyer.
3.30 Chepstow - The ability to stay all day is the key to finding the winner here, and one that fits the bill is Alan King's Silver Spinner. The seven-year-old was a progressive type last season and after a couple of below par efforts this term showed that her time was near when a good third at Ffos Las in January. She then stepped up on that when finishing a very good staying on sixth length second to Viking Blond at Exeter, suggesting that it was only a matter of time before she got back into the winners enclosure. At 7-1 with bet365 she looks an outstanding each-way bet to nothing to gain her revenge on Viking Blond on these revised terms.
3.40 Kempton - The late withdrawal of Mille Chief has robbed the race of much of its interest, and the contest now looks a match between Ultimate and Soldatino. Preference is for the latter who has joined the powerful Nicky Henderson stable after making a winning start over hurdles at Pau in France. The stable has won this race twice in the past three runnings, and it's interesting that they have thrown Saldatino in at the deep end for his debut. They clearly think a lot of him, and his ability to act in soft ground could be the key today. Brian Ellison has expressed fears that the going will be too soft for the favoruite Ultimate, so I would defintely rather take a chance on Saldatino at 2-1 than take evens about the jolly.
Recommended bets: 10pts win Grey Soldier (5-2 Sportingbet, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes); 3pts each-way Silver Spinner (7-1 bet365)
Already advised: 5pts each-way Madison Du Berlais 8-1
