Ben Jones Saturday rides blog: 'This is a nice opportunity if he wants to climb the ranks'

Ben Jones has three rides at Haydock on Saturday, November 22, with Handstands at 3pm considered his best chance. The Ladbrokes ambassador previews all three in his latest blog.

• The Jukebox Man - Haydock - 1.50 race odds

• Ma Shantou - Haydock - 2.25 race odds

• Handstands - Haydock - 3.00 race odds

1.50 - Haydock - The Jukebox Man

We start Saturday with The Jukebox Man who is obviously a high-class horse, and it's nice to get him back to the track after a spell off. I think Ben [Pauling] has found a brilliant race for him here - he's obviously aiming for the King George so this is the perfect stepping stone to get a race into him. He's been great at home and he's schooled well. He might not be piping fit here but it'll put him in a really good place ahead of the King George. A lot of Ben's are like that the first time out in the season though, and we've had lots of success so far. I'm very much looking forward to him getting back out there.

2.25 - Haydock - Ma Shantou

Ma Shantou runs in the handicap hurdle - I schooled him yesterday for Emma [Lavelle] and he's a very nice, laid-back character who does everything great. He couldn't have done things much easier last time out at Cheltenham, and he does go up eight-pound in the weights for that. I spoke to Harry Cobden though, and he likes him a lot. Hopefully he can keep progressing and climbing up the ranks, and that eight-pound rise isn't too much. If that's the case, I'd say he'll have a very good chance. 

Hopefully he's as straightforward as I know he can be. It's obviously a big race, the biggest he'll have been in, but hopefully he can get himself in a good rhythm and go well. 

3.00 - Haydock - Handstands

We've then got Handstands in the big one and I just love this horse to bits. He's a proper horse who wears his heart on his sleeve. I'd say he's started this year very similar to how he did last year; he wasn't exactly half-asleep in his first race, but he needed it to just wake him up a little bit and get him back in the spirit of things. He didn't really think about racing until three out on the last day up in Carlisle, then when he put his best foot forward, he didn't miss a beat up the hill and then we just got collared on the line. That was a good stepping stone for him though; he's got that run under his belt now and he's definitely sharpened up for that spin around Carlisle. 

I worked him last week and he was really on it - I gave him a pop this morning too and he was very fast, slick and neat. Obviously this is a step up for him, but we're hoping he's the horse that we think he is. He didn't do a lot wrong for us last year; two Grade 2s and a Grade 1... this is a nice opportunity for him to be competitive again in a Grade 1 if he wants to climb the ranks this year. 

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