Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase Day will join jump racing from Ascot, the BetVictor Champion Chase at Down Royal and Breeders’ Cup action from Del Mar in the USA on our screens this Saturday with 13 races set to be broadcast live on ITV.
- 1:15 Wetherby: Position Payout At bet365 Handicap Chase – Ninth Loch @ 10/1
- 1:30 Ascot: Ascot Underwriting Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase – Viroflay @ 3/1
- 1:50 Wetherby: bet365 Mares’ Hurdle – Golden Ace @ 2/5
- 2:05 Ascot: Grundon Waste Management Handicap Chase – Petit Tonnerre @ 12/1
- 2:22 Wetherby: bet365 Hurdle – Strong Leader @ 13/8
- 2:40 Down Royal: BetVictor Champion Chase – Western Fold @ 9/2
- 2:57 Wetherby: bet365 Charlie Hall Chase – Pic D’orhy @ 4/1
- 3:10 Ascot: Lavazza Handicap Hurdle – Indemnity @ 9/1
- 3:30 Wetherby: Never Ordinary At bet365 Handicap Hurdle – Go Dante @ 5/1
- 3:45 Ascot: Sodexo Live! Gold Cup Handicap Chase – The Changing Man @ 7/2
- 9:01 Del Mar: Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff – Clicquot @ 10/1
- 9:41 Del Mar: Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf – Minnie Hauk @ 11/10
- 10:25 Del Mar: Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic – Journalism @ 6/1
Two handicap chases, one from Wetherby and one from Ascot, open the live ITV racing on Saturday before the Listed bet365 Mares’ Hudle over 2m. Champion Hurdler, Golden Ace, faces just two rivals on his seasonal reappearance and is long odds-on to get off to a winning start for trainer Jeremy Scott.
Alex Ferguson runner, L’Eau du Sud for Dan Skelton, is the favourite for the Grundon Waste Management Handicap Chase after winning three out of three chases last Autumn including the Grade 2 Arkle Trial at the November Meeting and the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown. Our each way pick is Jonjo and A J O’Neill’s Petit Tonnerre who bounced back from a poor run in the Red Rum Handicap at Aintree to win a Listed Handicap at Punchestown last season.
The Grade 2 bet365 Hurdle has Olly Murphy’s Strong Leader and Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies’ Potters Charm at the head of the market. There are question marks over Potters Charm who is stepping up in distance so preference is for Strong Leader who is a seasoned campaigner over 3m.
The classiest jump race of the day comes from Down Royal in the Grade 1 BetVictor Champion Chase. Last year’s winner, Envoi Allen, heads the betting for Henry de Bromhead ahead of J J Mangan’s Spillane’s Tower. Third on the list currently is Gordon Elliott’s Western Fold who is our selection to continue his progress with a first top grade win.
Wetherby’s feature follows in the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase which has a strong six-runner field set to go to post, including 2024 Ryanair Chase winner Protektorat and 2023 King George winner Hewick. Our preference goes to Paul Nicholls’ Pic D’orhy to hand Paul Nicholls a record equalling sixth win in the race.
The Lavazza Handicap Hurdle and bet365 Handicap Hurdle are followed by one of the big betting heats of the day in the Sodexo Live! Gold Cup at Ascot. Joe Tizzard’s The Changing Man may have been outclassed in the Midmay Novices’ Chase back in April at Aintree but is a course and distance winner and a solid favourite to get back on track at the weekend.
ITV racing will return to our screens in the evening to cover three Breeders’ Cup races from Del Mar starting with the Distaff for fillies and mares on the dirt track.
The $5m Breeders’ Cup Turf is next with a whole host of familiar names taking to the track. Charlie Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance won this in 2022 and 2024 and is bidding to be first three-time winner of the race and the first seven-year-old winner. Aidan O’Brien’s dual Oaks winner may prove too strong for the rest of field however, if she can bounce back from a narrow defeat in the Arc at the beginning of October.
The $7m Breeders’ Cup Classic carries much of the focus stateside but the race was hit by the withdrawal of Bill Mott’s Sovereignty who was aiming to sign off a stellar year which included wins in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Michael McCarthy’s Journalism was runner-up to Sovereignty in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes but was successful in the Preakness Stakes between those runs and can benefit in the absence of the previous favourite.