Horse Racing Tips: Tanya Stevenson's 3 Bets For Saturday
Darts at Ally Pally have been a massive distraction since Sunday and will continue to be so until its conclusion in the New Year.
The festive period has always meant one thing lots of sport to enjoy: darts, cricket, NFL, greyhounds and horse racing.
I will be covering the Welsh National in my next column, with Kempton and Leopardstown as part of the Racehour podcast.
Races with more than a handful of runners on Saturday at Haydock and Ascot are few and far between so trying to squeeze out the value on horse racing betting sites has been very tricky.
Weather watch is required especially for Haydock as once again the forecast may include strong winds and lots of rain.
If all goes well then Nicky Richards could have a great day at Haydock. What a relief he is out of hospital now and recovering well from his fall. He will be back on a racecourse soon enough.
I sense Nells Son, Sauce Of Life and The Kalooki Kid have all been what the doctor ordered and a huge tonic.
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Tanya Stevenson's Selections For Saturday
- The Panel Selection 1: 14:05 Haydock - Famous Bridge (Nap)
- The Panel Selection 2: 15:05 Haydock - Castle Rushen
- The Panel Selection 3: 15:35 Ascot - Kihavah (E/W)
Tanya Stevenson Panel Tip 1: Haydock 14:05 - Famous Bridge (Nap)
There could be an additional dose of the same at Haydock when Famous Bridge tries to repeat his Tommy Whittle win of 2023.
He went to Doncaster after that and on good ground, he was chasing as soon as they were off.
That leads to jumping errors which in turn scuppered his opportunity to get quietly into the contest and in that instance, he was pulled up.
Back to Haydock for in hindsight possibly the one that got away, he was joint favourite for the Grand National Trial, wading through the heavy ground.
He was off the radar of the leaders, creeping through the race beautifully only for Sean Quinlan to be unseated at the 17th of 22 fences.
Of course, in the aftermath how can it be known how well he was going in comparison to his rivals?
Then he went to Cheltenham. It's rare Nicky has runners at the Festival, so he is sure to have felt Famous Bridge would go well.
And that he did. He was fourth off 139 to Chianti Classico and Twig in the Ultima Handicap.
His only run this season has been at Kelso, where on ground possibly too quick for him, he just couldn’t pick up Kelso specialist Elvis Mail.
Back in the Tommy Whittle, he is off top weight but with the forecast, I suspect he will get the heavy ground he loves and Sean Quinlan has ridden him seven times for three wins.
Tanya Stevenson Panel Tip 2: Haydock 15:15 - Castle Rushen
Fast forward to the last race, and the Hemmings' yellow-and-green-quarters with white sleeves will be worn this time by Brian Hughes for Nicky Richards on Castle Rushen.
He is one that you feel still has room for manoeuvre on his hurdle rating as it is lagging slightly behind his chase mark.
But the key as well might be the fact he loves heavy ground; he has run on it seven times, won three and was second twice.
He has lots of talent and back in 2021, he was third in a Grade 2 hurdle to My Drogo. Of course that was a long time ago, but he is amongst rivals with a really competitive mark and he will be doing a rain dance.
That said, he won nicely on seasonal reappearance at Carlisle on good-to-soft ground and was pitched in at the deep end last time out.
He was 33/1 in the Betfair Stayers Handicap Hurdle and he was fourth of five finishers to Shoot First. Castle Rushen was only carrying 9lbs less than him at Haydock. He is off the same mark in the 15:15.
Tanya Stevenson Panel Tip 3: Ascot 15:35 - Kihavah (E/W)
Ascot proved very hard for me to analyse. I was going to take on Victtorino with the French challenger Heloy Delabarriere, but what was off-putting is that he hasn’t found the winners' enclosure since May 2022.
Rethink and I've gone to the 15:35 and the really competitive handicap hurdle oozes form, from the Greatwood and young talent with Karbala Du Mathan.
Hughie Morrison has won it three times too, which will cheer Secret Squirrel fans.
I've gone for what I think could be each-way value material in Kihavah. What a brilliant horse for connections and testament to the skills of Adrian Paul Keatley.
On the flat, Kihavah is to be feared at York. Over hurdles, I suspect the opposition won't know what to make of him.
Rewind to the Fighting Fifth, Grade 1 and he led the runners to approaching second last.
The pace he went I thought that he would fade rapidly, but in the end he was only beaten 12-and-a-half lengths and the time for the race was 1.79 seconds faster than standard.
Remember he carried the same weight as Sir Gino and Lump Sum and he clipped along as well.
He has lots of weight to carry, but some of that has been negated by the conditional on board, who could make this a memorable day for himself let alone connections as this is his first ride at Ascot.
With Kihavah’s flat speed - and that excellent Newcastle run - here’s hoping he is value each-way on betting apps.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all the best over the festive period, thank you for taking the time to read through my thoughts.
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