Friday's Meetings Newbury Flat 8 Races 1:06-5:10p.m. Cheltenham N/H 7 Races 1:15-4:45p.m. Doncaster Flat 7 Races 1:33-5:03p.m. Sligo N/H 7 Races 2:00-5:30p.m. Southwell(E) A/W 9 Races 4:15-8:30p.m. Dundalk(E) A/W 7 Races 5:15-8:15p.m. Racecards At The Races Sporting Life Racing Post Good Luck
Fantastic to already have the opening Cheltenham fixture of the season upon us and there are some nice races to get stuck into. 1.15 East India Express is proving popular with punters and no doubt he will be ready to try and defy an 8lb rise and top weight (goes well fresh) but this looks a deep contest. The Irish raiders look ready to be competitive (including the engimatic Jazzy Matt who clearly loves the venue) and there are a couple of rogues (Minella Dream and American Sniper) who could suddenly be competitive (especially the latter, who usually pops up at a big price at this time of year). But my eye is drawn to the less exposed runners and my pick is The Expensive One. A full brother to The New One, the Twister would have been delighted with his opening handicap mark of 106 and he duly obliged at Starford 18 days ago. He is up 5lbs to 111 today but jockey James Turner's claim negates that and he looks the type that could rack up a sequence in the early part of the season. 2.25 It pays to take note when Paul Nicholls books Freddie Keighley and his 8lbs will prove very beneficial to the chances of Zaochen Enki. This French recruit won on yard debut back in March but then disappointed when 4/6 fav at Chepstow in April. That was a bit of a muddling race, however, as they went a real crawl before turning it into a sprint over the last 3 furlongs and Zaochen Enki's chances were ended by a novicey mistake at the last hurdle. The winner that day, Inside Man, has since won again and is now rated 124 so Zaochen Enki's mark of 115, plus the jockey's allowance, looks appealing. Nicholls is amongst the winners lately too 3.35 Fergal O'Brien seems to have worked the oracle with Third Time Lucki and anyone who remembers his spreadeagling his field in the novice chase at this meeting in 2021 will think a mark of 137 ought to be within his reach. Three very competitive races so a small stakes e/w trixie
