Saturday racing tips: Andy Ayres picks out his best bet for Saturday’s ITV racing and has all the biggest gambles landed up and down the land through the week
Don't miss out on the best and most hilarious take on this weeks racing from our resident Trackman, Andy Ayres.
JACK FROST erased a few jumping cards this week but we had plenty of all-weather action to keep us busy.
For starters, Paul d’Arcy teamed up with racehorse owner and Swindon Town chairman Lee Power to blindside punters with Martineo in a 6f handicap at Wolverhampton on Monday.
The duo had two entered here, with Adam Kirby booked to ride paper favourite Inaam who was withdrawn late on a self-certificate. That meant Kirbs could switch to Martineo and `The Enforcer’ made no mistake, pouncing late to win by a neck.
Both horses are on loan to d’Arcy from John Butler, who is currently serving a three month ban for misleading officials, and the whole saga felt like an iffy chapter in a Dick Francis novel.
It was brass monkeys at Lingfield on Wednesday, where First Link (12-1 to 13-2) was a heavily bet winner for comeback kid Jean-Rene Auvray.
Jean-Rene sounds like an extra in Allo Allo, but he’s been in good nick since returning from a spell outside the game and will win another handicap or two with this improver.
LATEST IN HORSE RACING
John Best has been out in the cold for so long he should be sponsored by Birds Eye. The man can train though and landed a proper punt with Casa Comigo (10-1 to 9-2) in the 2m handicap.
This one got the job done despite pulling harder than Peter Stringfellow on a Saturday night and could help his trainer stage a revival.
My old mucker Tracksuit Dave has been around since Fred Archer was claiming seven but would never claim to be any sort of a paddock judge.
The rascal isn’t backward at coming forward though and was double keen to get the regulars opinion on a horse’s well-being at Lingers the other day - “green” was the unanimous response.
Tracksuit had a quick butchers before mumbling, “looks brown to me.”
FESTIVAL ENTRIES Check out the entries for all the Grade 1 novice events at the Cheltenham Festival
Southwell’s floodlights have taken longer to put up than Donald Trump’s wall, but as long as they bung a few shekels in the meter it’s all systems go for March 14th.
Eagle eyed punters at the track on Thursday saw Gay Kelleway give course record holder Scale Force an impressive solo workout at the end of the card. He’s a natural on this suet pudding surface and must be followed.
It was so nippy at Kempton on Wednesday that the track handyman had to grab a can of Mr Sheen to wipe a layer of frost off the photo-finish mirror.
It’s a good job he did, because you needed a microscope to see that Songkran had made a winning debut for David Elsworth in the 7f maiden.
Saturday Banker
KILDISART (1.15 Cheltenham) saw off some experienced rivals at Ascot last time and is weighted to go close.
This colt got thrown around like a ping-pong ball in a washing machine for half the race but was coaxed home by in-form David Probert and looks a bit useful.
Talking about red-hot jockeys, I’m told Oisin Murphy is enjoying his spell over in Japan, although he has endured a couple of awkward moments with the local translator.
Apparently the man in question has a decent grasp of the Queen’s English but has been all at sea deciphering Oisin’s Irish lilt. Frustrating for all concerned, but then it’s a long way from Tokyo to Tipperary!
KEY PLAYER (3.40) has a lively each-way chance at Lingfield on Saturday, while LADY BUTTONS (2.40) can maintain her unbeaten record for the season up at Doncaster.
Bet of the day at Cheltenham is Ben Pauling’s KILDISART (1.15). He looked tougher than Rocky last time, jumps like a bunny and still figures on a handy mark.