After a nice start with Windsor yesterday, day two of the Berkshire Winter Million Festival rolls on to Ascot for Clarence House Day.

But first, a small review on yesterday. Nemean Lion won at 6/1 for the column, but missed darts on Hugos New Horse, Deafening Silence, and, most annoyingly, Caldwell Potter saw the column turn a profit of just 1pt.

Yes, the champagne is on ice.

Anyway, I’ve hopefully found a few angles for Ascot and Haydock, so let’s dive into Clarence House Chase Day.

Clarence House Chase Day Tips

2:15 Ascot – Flegmatik @ 5/1 with BetVictor – 1pt Win

Starting with the fourth race at Ascot, Flegmatik looks too well-handicapped to ignore.

Martator is a worthy favourite, but a mark of 151 is steep enough and Venetia Williams’ yard is slightly out of form currently.

As for Flegmatik, his last win came in January 2024 around Kempton where he beat Chianti Classico, the subsequent Ultima winner, off 137 under this weekend’s jockey Tristan Durrell.

A mark of 132 has him well-handicapped here, and he ran a good race for a while over three miles at Ascot last time out.

Finishing around a well-handicapped Victtorino and The Changing Man as well as Threeunderthrufive and Trelawne looks good on paper, and he travelled very well before the home turn.

The ground at Ascot is good to soft which is pretty much ‘no excuses’ ground for any horse, but just in case, he won on good to soft at Kempton last season and tends to prefer a sounder surface anyway.

He needs to return back to his best, but there was enough promise in his last run to suggest that is possible.

2:30 Haydock – Trelawne @ 10/3 with BetVictor – 1pt Win

Trelawne is a horse that I like, and I think he has the ability to run well in a Grand National.

Well, a soft ground Grand National as a deep surface is fairly crucial to him. His only race on good to soft came on his latest outing when he finished fourth behind Victtorino.

Furthermore, if he wins this weekend, that may blow his mark for any kind of National.

The rest of his form comes on soft or heavy ground, so the conditions at Haydock should suit.

His success at Haydock on seasonal reappearance was big, and when speaking to Kim Bailey last season, he convinced me that this son of Geordieland was as good if not better than his stablemate Chianti Classico.

The latter won the Ultima, finished fourth in a Grade 1, and then won an Ascot handicap chase at the start of this campaign, so uttering Trelawne in the same sentence as Chianti Classico is promising.

A mark of 152 is steep, but he has a nice racing weight of 11-0 thanks to Royale Pagaille and I hope he can win the Peter Marsh.

2:50 Ascot – Aston Martini @ 17/2 with BetVictor (4 places) – 1pt EW

Aston Martini was a fancy of mine for Sandown last weekend when entered for a Listed Mares’ Hurdle and I’m willing to retain the faith with her on Saturday.

Because the information is still very relevant, I’m going to lift my notes on her from last week’s column into here.

Firstly, something Nicky Henderson said in a pre-season At The Races stable tour really caught my eye regarding this mare.

He said: “We might try her over fences in time, but she has some unfinished business over hurdles before that and has a very bright future.”

Those are some nice words that could be true based on some of her form.

At Lingfield last year, she beat Ooh Betty and Only By Night which is a piece of form that’s worked out nicely,

The second, Ooh Betty, chased home Golden Ace at Cheltenham in April before winning two races in handicap company this season, and the third, Only By Night, bolted up in a Grade 2 mares’ novice chase at Cork last month.

Although a run against her own gender last week would have been preferred, I think she can improve from her mark of 123, especially with Freddie Gordon’s 3lb claim in the saddle.

After all, she comes from the family of the Grand National winner Rule The World, the 2008 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle runner-up Venalmar, and the Listed winner One Gulp.

She has good blood and an interesting mark. A return to 2m3f should also suit, so I’ll keep her in the book.

3:40 Haydock – Xcitations @ 7/1 with BetVictor (3 places) – 1pt EW

Much like Aston Martini, Xcitations was a selection for last week’s column, but the case still remains.

He’s down to a mark of 125 which is 9lbs below his last winning mark, and that success came on Sandown good to soft ground, so he won’t mind a softer surface like Haydock.

He has also won off 133, 130, 128, and 120 before, so his mark of 125 makes him well-treated here.

During his last success, he beat Western Zephyr who has improved 8lbs since thanks to a win at Carlisle and a good run behind L’Eau Du Sud at Cheltenham.

Xcitations also ran a good race off 138 at Newbury in December 2023 when behind two subsequent Grade 1 winners, Elixir De Nutz and Master Chewy.

So, in a winnable race, I’m chancing Pam Sly’s 10-year-old.