Jan 21: Nick Luck's Saturday Racing Tips

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WITH Ascot’s Grade One card in serious danger my Oddschecker column this weekend will focus on the TV racing from Haydock which suits me because I was of the opinion the better punting opportunities lie at the Lancashire venue in any case.

I’ve had a good long look at the Peter Marsh Chase (3.15) and have come to the opinion that SAUSALITO SUNRISE rates the standout bet on the card. Philip Hobbs’ talented chaser has been dropped 8lb since going up a fair chunk for thrashing a good horse at Ascot back in February, but I don’t see any obvious sign he has lost his way this term despite two heavy reversals – he simply hasn’t enjoyed any luck in his two runs at Cheltenham, ripping a shoe of in the first run and then stumbling badly and getting hampered last time.

The ground at Haydock doesn’t look as though it is going to be too bad which means conditions should be ideal for the selection and, perhaps most significantly, Tom O’Brien has a near 50 per cent (5-11) record on the nine-year-old.

The presence of the highly-touted Alary, who admittedly could be a cut above this opposition but simply doesn’t make any appeal at the prices, at the head of the weights mean more than a third of this field have to race from out of the handicap, so everything looks in place for Sausalito Sunrise to produce his best and the current 12-1 rates major each-way value in my opinion.

In the Champion Hurdle trial (2.40), many won’t have forgiven L’AMI SERGE for throwing away a winning opportunity at Cheltenham before Christmas but I’m of the opinion this could be his day. The New One is a mighty hard horse to oppose given he is unbeaten at Haydock and has won 15 of his 16 runs outside of Grade One company, but it’s also true he has never been quite at his best this venue. I also have a theory he is best after a break, although that isn’t a theory shared by the trainer.

If he gets an uncontested lead he will be a hard horse to pass but I am hoping Irvine will also be ridden prominently, in which case the pair could tee this up for L’Ami Serge who is not short of speed, although as we saw last time he needs delivering very late. The flatter nature of this circuit might suit him better than Cheltenham.

I’m keen to take on the one-two from Kempton, Elgin and Mohaayed, in the novices’ hurdle at 2.05, and the one to oppose them with is the Mark Walford-trained CRAGGAKNOCK. It’s obvious he needs to step forward significantly from his two novice wins at Wetherby but it’s interesting the trainer immediately nominated this race as a target after the December success which suggests this has been on the radar for some time.

Mark is a canny operator who has been involved with some top yards down the years and it looks as though he thinks this horse has the capacity to go a long way in this sphere which shouldn’t come as a major surprise given he was pretty useful on the Flat and handles soft ground well. With doubts over the depth of that Kempton form, Craggaknock looks a viable alternative.