TV TIPS (SATURDAY)

15:00 Kelso – Liz Adam Memorial Handicap Chase

Today’s feature race comes from Kelso and rewards the winner a cool £31,280. The first horse to consider in this race is the bottom-weight and likely outsider Capard King. This may seem a strange starting point as he has only managed two victories in over twenty attempts over fences, yet his victories came when racing off official ratings of 136 and 135 and he races today off a rating of just 118. Add to this his solid second last time out, on first run for trainer Sandy Thomson (who likes a winner at Kelso) and I can see him outrunning his early double-figure odds.

Nigel Twiston-Davies has hit the crossbar with his runners in the last couple of weeks but sends Blue Flight who has won his last three, the latest two of which have come here at Kelso, holding on well to beat Black Corton last time out. He is progressing well but has gone up from 132 to 146 as a result, and has to give 7lbs or more to his rivals here today. He could be capable of defying the increase but at the prices i’d prefer to look elsewhere.

Another who arrives with recent winning form is Le Reve who cast aside a couple of lacklustre performances at the beginning of the season with victories at both Lingfield and Sandown in the last couple of months. These came in slightly lower grades but he is still well-treated on old form and again benefits from jockey Maxime Tissiers’ 5lbs claim so shouldn’t be underestimated.

For our idea of the winner we turn to Claud And Goldie who may be ten years old but is very lightly-raced for his age and has improved for each of his four runs for trainer Sandy Forster (who has a 38% winning strike rate with chasers in the last three years at the course). Her runner followed up a decent placed effort at the course in December with an impressive victory on first run in handicap company last time out. With conditions in his favour and few miles on the clock he looks capable of taking another step forward and can reward his trainer with another victory at her local course.

Claud And Goldie (WIN)

ITV RACING:

Kelso 13:50 – Kupatana (WIN)

Newbury 14:05 – Rock My Style (E/W)

Kelso 14:25 – Champagne City (WIN)

Newbury 14:40 – Friend Or Foe (WIN) – NAP

Kelso 15:00 – Claud And Goldie (WIN)

Newbury 15:15 – She Might Bite (WIN)

Kelso 15:35 – Teescomponents Lad (WIN)