ITV Racing Tips: Kitty’s Light can claim Scottish Grand National for Wales
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It’s Scotland’s turn to host the last of the jump season’s Grand Nationals with the running of the Scottish Grand National.
A week after an eventful Grand National, Ayr is the setting of this four-mile marathon. Aintree heroes Lucinda Russell and Derek Fox will hope Your Own Story can follow Corach Rambler’ lead.
The Ayr meeting is shared with some excellent Flat racing from Newbury where the Guineas trials continue. Chaldean is out to confirm himself a live Classic contender under Frankie Dettori.
They form part of a nine-race package to be shown on ITV. The action begins at 12:55 and we have previewed three of the day’s significant races in our ITV Racing Tips.
It’s been a tremendous week for AMO Racing, the operation run by football agent Kia Joorabchian. The team’s successes at the Craven meeting included an impressive win for Mammas Girl in the Nell Gwyn Stakes and another filly is unleashed in the race best known as the Fred Darling. There are two AMO horses in here and Magical Sunset can provide the win. A stablemate of Mammas Girl, she won over course and distance in October, winning the Radley Stakes by five lengths on heavy going. She won’t be troubled by the soft ground and another victory looks likely.
Chaldean won four out of five last year and rounded off the campaign with a head victory in the Dewhurst Stakes. At the moment he is Frankie Dettori’s best hope of winning another 2,000 Guineas in his final year in the saddle. On known form he should be head and shoulders above this field and is proven on soft ground having won the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster by three and a half lengths from Indestructible who won Thursday’s Craven Stakes. If he is Classic-bound he should be winning this.
Christian Williams won this with Win My Wings 12 months ago and can take the prize back to Wales again with Kitty’s Light. It’s not been as rewarding a campaign for Williams but his horses have come back to form lately and Kitty’s Light stepped forward by landing the Eider Chase. Win My Wings won the same race before striking in this. Kitty’s Light finished second last year to his stablemate but, without a win until scoring at Newcastle, he has come down the handicap. As a result he is running off a mark 3lb lower than on his last visit to Scotland and 5lb lower than when finishing third in the Bet365 Gold Cup. It’s an opportunity he should be well up to taking.
ITV Racing Schedule, Saturday, 22nd April
13:15 Ayr – 2m handicap chase
13:30 Newbury – John Porter Stakes
13:50 Ayr – 3m novice’s handicap chase
14:05 Newbury – Fred Darling Stakes
14:25 Ayr – Scottish Champion Hurdle
14:40 Newbury – Greenham Stakes
15:00 Ayr – Future Champion Novices’ Chase
15:15 Newbury – Spring Cup
15:35 Ayr – Scottish Grand National
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
