ITV Racing Tips: Will Kim Bailey gain Vinndication in the Ladbrokes Trophy?
ITV Racing Tips: Will Kim Bailey gain Vinndication in the Ladbrokes Trophy?
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Saturday’s Racing may have come too early for crowds to enjoy, but there’s still plenty to get excited about on ITV with the Ladbrokes Trophy from Newbury and the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle our feature contests.
Champion Hurdle winner Epatante is bidding to get her season off to a flyer in the North East, while there are any number of genuine contenders for the ultra-competitive feature on Day 2 of the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival.
It’s guaranteed to be an afternoon full of thrills, spills, shocks and surprises, and it’s one we’ve previewed in our ITV Racing Tips.
How do you solve a puzzle like the Ladbrokes Trophy? We’re not sure, but Kim Bailey may have the answer. The Thorndale Farm trainer has been enjoying a purple patch of form and is operating at a 21% strike-rate over the last fortnight with winners at televised meetings from Cheltenham and Ascot.
He runs two in the big race of the day, with Vinndication his best chance. The seven-year-old was lightly-raced last term but produced two huge efforts at Cheltenham to win the Sodexo Gold Cup and finish fourth in the Ultima behind The Conditional, who re-opposes here off 8lb higher.
Vinndication returned at the start of this season with a good 2l second to Cyrname in the Charlie Hall, and with cheekpieces added there’s a good chance he could go close again. Stablemate Two For Gold finished runner-up in a Listed contest at the same meeting and is also capable of further progress off 13lb lower than his rival.
Aye Right ran a cracker to finish third behind Cyrname and Vinndication in the Charlie Hall and has the potential to do well in this, while Chepstow winner Secret Investor has form with Potterman, who is available at a big price after running well to come home a short-head second in the Badger Beers over 3m 1f at Wincanton earlier this month.
Copperhead is among the favourites but will need to make amends for his fall in the RSA last term and his latest effort when he was pulled up in a Grade 2 at Wetherby, with The Conditional another who deserves a second look after finishing runner-up in this race last term before going onto win the Ultima at Cheltenham. He’ll be the first horse to win the race on seasonal reappearance since Bobs Worth in 2012 if he can get the job done here.
At the time of writing on Friday afternoon, our traders have Epatante priced at even-money to win the Fighting Fifth. If that price remains come Saturday morning, it would be a massive surprise.
Nicky Henderson’s mare is unbeaten since the start of last season and dispatched a classier field than this to win the Champion Hurdle at a canter in March, including the talented but limited Silver Streak. Evan Williams’s inmate has been beaten by a total of 17l in his two meetings with Epatante and given his position as the third-favourite in the market, it should provide a sense of just how far clear the jolly is of her rivals.
Sceau Royal is the only other genuine contender in the field, and while the eight-year-old trained by Alan King has won twice this season back over hurdles, he’s faced no-one on the same level as Epatante. The favourite is widely expected to show more improvement as a six-year-old and her road back to Cheltenham should begin with success in a race Seven Barrows have won twice since 2017.
Tea Clipper took his winning run to four in five races with last month’s cosy victory in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow, and there’s a feeling the handicapper might be letting him get away lightly with only a 7lb rise.
Tom Lacey’s inmate beat some decent yardsticks in that race, including Dan Skelton’s Flash The Steel who looked to have a real chance in a decent Handicap at Haydock before falling at the fifth flight.
He won with a little bit in hand that afternoon, and with an unusually sound surface at Newbury also in his favour, he could be difficult to stop for a trainer who’s operating at a 29% strike-rate in the last fortnight.
The aforementioned Flash The Steel re-opposes and should prove one of the main dangers along with Amour De Nuit, who won a Plumpton Handicap on his return and will also enjoy the surface.
Nicky Henderson has won this race in each of the last two seasons and he saddles Champagne Platinum with the two-time hurdle winner reverting back to smaller obstacles after a luckless season over fences.
ITV Racing Schedule, Saturday 28th November
13:50 Newbury – Get Your Ladbrokes £1 Free Bet Today Handicap Hurdle
14:05 Newcastle – Fighting Fifth Hurdle
14:25 Newbury – Ladbrokes Committed To Safer Gambling Intermediate Hurdle
15:00 Newbury – Ladbrokes Trophy
15:15 Newcastle – Rehearsal Handicap Chase
15:35 Newbury – Watch Racing Free Online At Ladbrokes Handicap Chase
