Thewoodcorner 5/1 – Newbury 1.50
I'm not a huge fan of juvenile horses taking on the older horses, but Nicky Henderson does well when doing this, so they must be confident.
Sam Twiston-Davies gets a rare ride for Nicky, but with Nico at Kelso and James Bowen not able to make the weight, it's a solid spare for Sam.
This horse stayed on at the finish over two miles on his last start, so the step up in trip looks to be the correct move. Running off 10st 4lbs makes him an attractive bet in this race, especially as he is very unexposed as a hurdler and compltely unexposed at this trip, which looks sure to suit.
Heltenham 11/4 – Newbury 2.25
I think there is a chance that Heltenham is on a tough handicap mark after his win at this track last time out, but I don't think many in this are particularly well-handicapped, so he still gets my vote.
Dan Skelton's horse is 4/6 at this track, and it's evidently his best venue, as the stats suggest. He won this race last year after winning the Grade 3 the time before. This year, he won the same Grade 3 handicap and goes for the back-to-back in this race as well.
The form of his win last time out seems decent. The runner-up finished fourth in a competitive handicap chase at Cheltenham, and the third-placed horse won on his next start.
Koukeo 3/1 – Newbury 4.10
I tipped up Koukeo in the Graded race won by Heltenham last time out. He didn't jump well enough, and did struggle with the step up in grade.
It's a risky decision to have a bet on him on the back of that run, but if he returns to the form of his Haydock win over Escapeandevade, then I think he has a cracking chance of getting another win on the board.
I think having Richie McLernon in the saddle is a positive over Jonjo Jr and Kevin Brogan. Richie is a great rider who can get a horse into a lovely jumping rhythm.
Joeybottles 7/2 – Bangor-on-Dee 4.30
Eric Carmen sets a decent standard for this Class 5 race, but he is an exposed horse. With a lot of unexposed chasers in this race, I think it's worth taking him on.
Joeybottles is one of a couple in this race who are making their chasing debut, but I think he was the one to focus on. He is going chasing on the back of getting his handicap mark from three hurdle runs, and has had a wind-op since we last saw him. All of which point towards a big performance on his debut over fences for a yard that does well around here.
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