Galvin in the spotlight
On Saturday 30th October, the second day of the Ladbrokes Festival of Racing, Down Royal Racecourse is hosting the first National Hunt Grade 1 race of the season. For many punters, the only race on tomorrow’s card is the Ladbrokes Champion Chase running at 14.50.
With two Cheltenham Gold Cup rivals hotly in pursuit of a win here, Minella Indo is clear favourite with the bookies, closely followed by Frodon, but our money is on one of the three Gordon Elliott entries, Galvin.
If Minella Indo is in the same form as he was at the end of last season, there’s no denying that he could walk this race, but that remains to be seen tomorrow, as he has not had a run since his victory at Cheltenham in March 2021.
Frodon has exhibited a win/lose record over his last six races. Winning well and then coming unplaced in the next race. Based on that, he’s due for a loss this time around and has not raced since Sandown in April 2021.
Galvin has a 100% record as a chaser and already has one recent race under his belt, coming back after a long break to win the 3m chase at Punchestown earlier this month. If you’re going to take a punt on this five-horse race, Galvin looks like a good choice at 4/1 with 888sport.
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Turning thoughts to Wetherby
Away from the mainstream, take a peek at the 3.40 at Wetherby, a 2m 3f Handicap Hurdle. You’ll find some decent odds here and a couple of promising runners beyond current favourite Mackenberg.
First up, we quite fancy Rattle Owl at 8/1 with Unibet. An 8 year old bay gelding sired by Kayf Tara, winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in 2010. Although Kayf Tara was only ever run on the Flat, his male progeny do notably well over the jumps and include Blaklion who was placed in the 2021 Grand National. We think that Rattle Owl may have that same talent.
Also worthy of a mention is Eviscerating, a local horse trained in Malton by Sarah Ender. Despite some setbacks, patient handling could well have brought this lovely 9 year old grey back on form and with a decent weight advantage, he might just be ready for his first win of the season.
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