Racing tips: Consistent performer Zanahiyr will finally get his time to shine

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To come away with a profit from a Saturday, especially at Cheltenham is good going and I'd take that every single time, no matter the level of profit. Saturday's are already hard, but combining it with Cheltenham where every horse is there to win, it makes it extremely difficult. 

Ga Law and Unanswered came in with the wins, 6/1 and 5/2. Ga Law jumped like a snooker table, so for him to win makes it a ridiculously good effort and shows how well-handicapped he was. Speaking of well-handicapped animals, Unanswered fits the bill. He cruised into contention and won with plenty in hand, and he definitely beat a well-handicapped horse in second place, so you'll want to put Wiseguy in your trackers.

Navan 12:45

I'm going to play the chicken role in this race, and by that, I mean using the w/o favourite market as the Willie Mullins horse is currently around 4/6F and the market strength does make me worried that we could be dealing with a very nice horse on chase debut. Not for one minute do I think he is bulletproof, but I think playing COLONEL MUSTARD in the w/o fav market would probably be the smarter option.

Colonel Mustard made a very good impression last year over hurdles and always appeared to me like a horse who would be better when going over fences. He ran in the big Graded races last season, and he probably was a cut below the top level, but he was rarely disgraced, apart from the most latest start which came at Aintree in the Grade 1 where he was tailed off. I think that performance could've been due to the short rest period between Aintree and Cheltenham, as a lot of horses do tend to run below form when running in both and I think that can be ignored as his run at the Cheltenham Festival was a very good run, finishing 3L behind State Man who was deemed to be a ‘Cert' for the festival. That form puts him bang there over hurdles form behind Flame Bearer who is the clear favourite today, who finished 7L behind State Man. They were off level weights that day compared to Colonel Mustard who was 4lbs lighter than State Man when they met. But based on that, you have to say the odds shouldn't be that far apart from the first two in the market.

You can get around 7/4 for this horse in the w/o fav market, and to me, that seems like decent value.

Navan 1:55

This has to be the race of the weekend unless something has slipped my mind, as this is a proper race, which could easily be classed as a Grade 1 with the runners we have. You have some quality and multiple Grade 1 winners in the shape of Flooring Porter and Bob Olinger. Though both will be fancied in the market, I don't fancy them, and I've decided to go with ZANAHIYR.

It's crazy to think this lad is still only a 5yo, as it seems like he's been around for years when in reality this is his third season as a jumps horse. He is a lovely horse who runs consistently in defeat all the time, and though the word defeat isn't great to hear when backing a horse, he has to be let off as he has been second fiddle to quality horses like Sharjah and Honeysuckle. Every time he ran over 2m I always thought they need to put him up in trip and that's when he will finally start to flourish. They did it on his most recent start which came at Aintree over 2m 4f in the Grade 1. He was in the midst of running a stormer but was probably booked for second place until having a horrible fall at the last. That race was eventually won by Epatante who looked incredible that day, but still, that would've been a very big effort by the Gordon Elliott trained horse.

If that incident hasn't left any mental marks on him, I think Zanahiyr has a belting chance in this, as conditions should suit him more than the others in the race. He will love the trip, handle the ground and has a track record of running well when fresh.

For me, Bob Olinger is the one they all have to beat, and the odds available are probably classed as ‘value' in some punter's eyes, but not mine. His career took a pause when he went over fences, as he didn't seem natural over the larger obstacles. Back over hurdles he is a major player, but I'd be worried about the ground for him, as surely he'll be wanting plenty of rain to arrive, with all of his best runs coming on soft or testing ground. Flooring Porter is better over further but will make this into a proper stamina test from the front, you'd probably think, and though he is speedy, surely he is quick enough to beat the likes of Zanahiyr who has finished 3rd in a Champion hurdle.

Cheltenham 2:55

If I'm honest, I totally forgot about the Greatwood hurdle being this early into the jumps season, so to see it happening this Sunday is great as we've already got some belting races taking place. As usual, this race is very competitive and probably full of horses who are well handicapped everywhere, so if you're a punter who loves a tracker, this race will throw up many winners.

For me, I'm going to be playing a small EW bet on PLAYFUL SAINT.

I'm far from confident that he'll win this, but that's to be expected when putting up a horse at 20/1+, but I do think he is capable of running well and getting a place at the very least. I mentioned how Christian Williams is quality at target training chasers for long-distance handicaps, well I think you'll struggle to find one better for handicap hurdles than Dan Skelton. Over recent years he has been mustard at landing prized, especially at Cheltenham, and last year was no different in this race, when the Skelton team won it with West Cork. I'm not for one minute saying Playful Saint is as good as West Cork, but I get the impression from his last run at Chepstow, this race has always been the early season target and they were getting him ready for today with that run at Chepstow being used as a prep run.

Watching it back, he travelled brilliantly into his race, probably not as strong as Sonigino, but going off body language Harry Skelton was very happy. After jumping three from home, his gas tank started to empty and you could tell they weren't trying on him, as Harry never went for the whip once, he just kept pushing him out to ensure he got his fitness up, but at the same time, he was looked after. Sonigino was a winning selection for me that day, and he runs in this race today, but off a 10lb higher mark, which will make this much tougher, but if he was to win, it wouldn't surprise me. But at the odds, I think Playful Saint could give us a nice run, with that form line looking good and now he gets an 11lb swing in the weights with the Nicholls horse, who already had the fitness edge of him when they met.

You have some horses who come into this probably well-handicapped, in the form of Gin Coco, Thousand Tears and a couple of others, but they've been found in the market already.

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