Megan Nicholls Racing Preview: Doncaster & Cheltenham Tips
Doncaster 12.55 – Richard James Hone Memorial Handicap
King Of Light (7/2) won on his penultimate start on very testing ground at Haydock and will like the conditions here.
He’s been a consistent sprinter this season and is versatile in terms of ground. I think plenty of others in the field won’t be loving the conditions, so he’s a pretty solid option.
Rossa Ryan, who will be over in Milan to ride Constitution Hill on Sunday, is in the saddle and hopefully he’s got some winning to do before that.
Megan’s Tip: King Of Light WIN
Doncaster 13.30 – Futurity Trophy Stakes (Group 1)
I don’t think Burning Up (3/1) for Karl Burke handled the track at Newmarket last time, but he still showed his ability and had a good attitude when running on well up the hill.
Ultimately, the top two in the market are strong stayers for the future. This race tends to throw that type of horse up anyway, but they’ve been strong stayers at the mile from what we’ve seen thus far. Burning Up on the slower ground may have the advantage.
It’s a good renewal with a nice field and plenty of depth to it. But my mind was made up when I saw that the ground is going to be slow on this straight, flat track.
It would be a great way to top off the season for the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid’s team, which has just had a phenomenal time of things, as has Burke.
Megan’s Tip: Burning Up WIN
Cheltenham 14.20 – Handicap Hurdle (Pertemps Hurdle Series Qualifier) (GBB Race)
We’re going to have to take into consideration that this is probably going to be on the slow side. There was torrential rain on Thursday night, it’s been wet again all Friday and it’s set to be extremely bad on Saturday as well.
So horses that have got a bit of form on the slower ground and yards that are in form may well be the key here because it’s going to become quite testing – more so for those that haven’t got a run under their belt already and fitness to help.
I’m going to go for Seaniecon (3/1 fav) for the O’Neill team. They’ve been going well of late since their summer break.
This horse was tried at the highest level at the end of last season and ran with plenty of credit. During that season he was also a winner on heavy ground and seems to stay very well.
I think Seaniecon is the ideal type of horse for the Pertemps and, with the conditions we’re going to have at Cheltenham on Saturday, I think he has a solid chance.
Megan’s Tip: Seaniecon WIN
Cheltenham 14.55 – Handicap Chase (GBB Race)
I’m going with Uncle Bert (7/2) for the Twiston-Davies team, again a team that have been going well.
This horse won on his reappearance last year, goes particularly well fresh and wasn’t over-raced last season.
I suppose he’s still got his stamina to prove, as he looked possibly better over two and a half to two and three-quarters.
But he deserves another chance at this distance, especially when he’s fresh and gets the soft ground, which seems to be where he really thrives.
Megan’s Tip: Uncle Bert WIN
Cheltenham 15.30 – Masterson Holdings Hurdle (GBB Race)
This is an open race but One Horse Town (5/1) is overpriced.
There’s only one more four-year-old only race, so it’s sort of for the second-season juveniles, and they tend to have a bit of an awkward campaign. So this is a nice opportunity for them to race against their own age group.
One Horse Town had a return on the Flat at Salisbury in preparation for this race and trainer Harry Derham was not shy to say he was probably only 80%. He ran with massive amounts of credit to finish second, only beaten by a very narrow margin.
He’ll have come on leaps and bounds for that. He goes well at Cheltenham, goes at any ground and he’s just tough and consistent.
Harry’s not had winner for a couple of weeks from a few runners, but plenty have actually run well, will improve and haven’t disgraced themselves by any means. So I don’t think the yard is out of form.
They’re just waiting to start winning pretty soon.
Megan’s Tip: One Horse Town WIN
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation
