ASCOT SATURDAY

1:15 GARDINER & THEOBALD NOVICES’ HANDICAP HURDLE 2M 3F 58Y

New Quay is a very interesting runner here, making his handicap debut after a wind operation.

He showed ample promise in three runs last winter, ending up with third place at Market Rasen behind a pair of subsequent winners, and worth marking up as faring best of those who raced off the pace at a track where such tactics rarely pay dividends.

The winner of that race, Ballinslea Bridge, is currently rated 129, and New Quay’s opening mark of 115 looks very workable given he was beaten six lengths despite not being seen to best effect.

His previous effort had seen him finish in front of horses now rated 122 and 139 in a race won by the useful Dans Le Vent, and all in all, he looks a potential blot on the handicap for a yard which places its horses extremely well.

2:25 BYRNE GROUP HANDICAP CHASE (LISTED) 2M 167Y

Shantou Rock should ensure that it’s a good day for Dan Skelton by taking the Byrne Group Chase under ideal conditions, and the son of Shantou is expected to be spot-on on his first start since April.

He won on his chase debut last season, but it’s his second to the top-notch Sceau Royal in a Grade 2 at Doncaster in January which marks him out as the one to beat here.

He jumped well in front that day and battled gamely against a horse who had slammed North Hill Harvey in the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown on his previous start.

He again jumped well on the whole when third in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree, and while his limitations were exposed at times last year, he does appeal as the type to do well in handicaps, where his sound jumping will be more of an asset.

3:00 BET WITH ASCOT HANDICAP HURDLE (LISTED) 1M 7F 152Y

He seems to have been relegated in the pecking order at his last two yards, but Divin Bere was such a promising juvenile hurdler, that it’s hard to think he’s going to prove hard to place in handicaps this season after suffering a loss of form in his second term over timber.

He finished second in the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival as a four-year-old before finishing a close second to Triumph Hurdle winner Defi du Seuil off level weights at Aintree, having given weight and a beating to Grade 2 winner Master Blueyes on his British debut.

Those runs came for Nicky Henderson, and he was still with the Seven Barrows handler this time last year, when acting as lead horse in a public gallop at Newbury organised to promote the new Ladbrokes Winter Festival.

Whatever the reason, he never raced again for Henderson, and disappointed in three starts for Paul Nicholls, culminating in the County Hurdle in the mud at Cheltenham in March.

It’s easy to think he may simply have lost his way, but I don’t think heavy ground was at all suitable on his last two starts, and he has since scored on the flat at Bath, having had the obligatory breathing operation in the interim.

That came in a modest contest, but context is important here, and it’s worth noting that he failed to make the frame on any of his nine flat starts in France before immediately showing massively improved form over hurdles.

The fact that he has been able to win in that sphere for his new yard shows that he still has some appetite for racing, but also gives hope that he will prove well treated from his current mark of 138.

He is fitted with blinkers for the first time since running on the flat at Nancy three years ago, and while that can be viewed as a negative, Nicholls is a trainer known for his judicious use of headgear.

3:35 SODEXO GOLD CUP HANDICAP CHASE (GRADE 3) 2M 7F 180Y

Best bet on Ascot’s Saturday card is the Rebecca Curtis-trained Geordie des Champs, who starts the season on an attractive mark, and is open to more improvement having had just a handful of starts over fences.

A winner of small-field races at Taunton and Hereford, he ran very well to be placed over an inadequate trip on the final day of the season, and may then have found an extended three and a quarter miles stretching him when a creditable fifth of 18 in the Summer Cup at Uttoxeter behind Virgilio.

Despite giving the impression he’s improving with experience, he’s actually been dropped by the assessor for those defeats, and looks to be let in fairly lightly off 138 in the context of the race.

Trip, track and ground look fine for him, and it’s particularly encouraging that Curtis, who has endured a couple of forgettable seasons, has her horses looking healthy at the moment and running accordingly, with two of her three runners over fences in the past few months winning, both in handicaps, and highlighted by the win of Relentless Dreamer in a traditionally competitive three-mile contest at Chepstow last month.

The yard has only had nine runners over fences since Joe Farrell landed the Scottish National, and they include placed efforts for Relentless Dreamer in both the Bet365 Gold Cup and Summer Cup, so there are reasons to be very positive about the Fforest Farm set-up in the season ahead.

WETHERBY SATURDAY

2:40 BET365 CHARLIE HALL CHASE (GRADE 2) 3M 45Y

The defection of Bristol de Mai and Thistlecrack has robbed this race of much of its intertest, but gives a chance to Virgilio to get a big win before a punitive handicap mark can halt his progress.

Winner of his last two races on a sound surface, the nine-year-old gelding has conditions to suit, and will surely have too much all-round speed for the slogger Definitly Red, for all Brian Elliosn’s runner is superior on the ratings.

Regal Encore wins when he wants, but prefers pulling up, and has done so a remarkable eight times from just 18 starts over fences, leaving Black Corton and Double Shuffle to beat. Double Shuffle is the pick on his King George second to Might Bite, but that efforts is a big standout on his record, and he disappointed in the spring.

There is a fair chance he’ll bounce back, but the balance of his chase form on left-handed tracks leaves him looking beatable, and he’s not for me at the prices.

Black Corton looks sure to run his race, and he was one of the finds of last season as he racked up a sequence of wins in novice chases.

He was probably over the top in the spring, and his jumping in the RSA Chase wasn’t as impressive as it had been previously, but that’s no surprise given his trainer had him out early believing he would find easier opportunities in the summer.

He ought to come back from a longer break refreshed, and a resumption of front-running tactics will not make him easy to catch. In saying that, he’s as short as 11/8 in places as I write, and I’m happy to stick with Dan Skelton’s in-form runner at much bigger odds.

RECOMMENDED:

SHANTOU ROCK 2:25 Ascot – 2pts win @ 13/8 (Ladbrokes, Coral, BetVictor)

DIVIN BERE 3:00 Ascot – 1pt win @ 7/1 (general)

GEORDIE DES CHAMPS 3:35 Ascot – 2pts win @ 8/1 (general)

VIRGILIO 2:40 Wetherby – 1pt win @ 5/1 (Hills)