The great week of action continues on Wednesday afternoon, and below are my Newmarket Craven Day & Cheltenham Tips to consider.
Aramram ran into one in the opening handicap at Newmarket yesterday, which was slightly annoying, but he still placed to return the stake money.
The cards and Cheltenham and Newmarket are competitive, but intriguing, today, so let’s hope we find some winners.
Newmarket Craven Day & Cheltenham Tips
1:50 Newmarket – Gallant @ 6/1 with William Hill (3 places) – 1pt EW
Gallant looked quite impressive when winning at Kempton in October on the all-weather, and with a run under his belt this year, he has the ability to improve from his current handicap mark.
His sole career success came at the back end of 2024, and while it was only a 6f novice, he looked really good.
The form of the race has already worked out, as well. West Acre (2nd) has won three races since including a Group 2 and 3 in Meydan, So Darn Hot (3rd) has won three races since including a Class 2 Lingfield handicap off 87, and Packetofbiscuits (4th) won a Wolverhampton handicap this month.
As for the performance on this day, he wasn’t keen, he travelled nicely, and he quickened away like a smart horse to run through the line. There was a lot to like.
The three-year-old by Hello Youmzain comes from a nice family as he is a half-brother to the Listed winner Stone Roses and the Listed winner Straight Right.
He was given a cautious ride on his seasonal reappearance at Lingfield 23 days ago, and with the hope that’s brought him on fitness-wise, he could continue to improve off a mark of 85.
2:05 Cheltenham – East India Express @ 5/2 with William Hill – 1pt Win
East India Express was an eye-catcher of mine from the Cheltenham Festival, and with an unchanged mark, I’m happy to play him again.
He ran in the Martin Pipe on his latest start, and while he ran well for a long way, I do think Freddie Gordon went a touch too hard in the heat of the moment.
That ultimately cost him in the final stages of the race, but he was the first past the post of all the horses that sat prominently that day. Positions one to six were filled with horses who either sat in midfield or towards the rear.
Speaking of the Martin Pipe, Wodhooh has nicely franked the form at Aintree, and this is likely to be a slightly cooler race with fewer runners and no Festival atmosphere to deal with. This should help settle both horse and jockey.
Gordon gets to claim 3lbs off his back today, which he couldn’t in the Martin Pipe, and the six-year-old gets his preferred good ground.
Furthermore, the form of his Ascot success over Double Powerful looks quite smart now considering the second has improved 13lbs subsequently.
He’s still unexposed in handicaps on this ground, and with age on his side, he can take this.
3:35 Newmarket – Opera Ballo @ 10/3 with William Hill – 1pt Win
I like the fitness edge that Opera Ballo has on his rivals in the Group 3 Craven Stakes, and while he has to prove it at this level, he looks capable of doing so.
I don’t want to compare him to Notable Speech because of the route he’s taken this year, but he looks like a horse with plenty of ability based on his first two starts.
He beat Hott Shott, who was fifth behind Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Group 3 Solario Stakes, on his latest start, with Saddadd (second in a Class 2 novice to Gethin subsequently) in third and Quai De Bethune (third to Cosmic Year on debut) in fourth.
That form offers hope, and so does his pedigree regarding good to soft ground.
His dam, Dubai Opera, is a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Lockwood who won on soft and placed in a Group 2 on good to soft, and her other sibling, Earnshaw, placed in a Group 1 on very soft.
Those two family relations mentioned are by Invincible Spirit and Medaglia d’Oro as well, two fast ground-oriented sires. Ghaiyyath, Opera Ballo’s sire, has only had horses on the track since 2024, but he has four winners on good to soft or worse from 13 runners.
William Buick choosing Aomori City is, to my eye, concerning, but I fear the ground might be too soft for Charlie Appleby’s other runner, so Opera Ballo is the one.
3:50 Cheltenham – Guard The Moon @ 15/2 with Betfred (3 places) – 1pt EW
There’s a few hoping Long Draw does the business in the fifth race at Prestbury Park, but if he has a chance, so does Guard The Moon at a bigger price.
He beat Olly Murphy’s progressive six-year-old at Warwick over 2m5f in October when giving 2lbs away; this time around, he gets 2lbs from Long Draw.
Guard The Moon progressed nicely through the ranks in the first half of the season, notably when finishing second over three miles at Aintree on good ground and second over 2m4f to Impose Toi at Newbury. Impose Toi has improved 11lbs since, which is nice.
Back in Class 3 company should help, and he is a horse who loves nicer ground.
3:50 Cheltenham – My Bobby Dazzler @ 12/1 with William Hill (3 places) – 0.5pt EW
Although Guard The Moon is the main fancy, I think My Bobby Dazzler is a big price for Mel Rowley.
He’s back down to a mark of 119, which is the same rating he had when he was a close second on Cheltenham Trials Day 2024 to Butch. He also won a novices’ handicap chase off 120 in June 2023.
He also split Zain Nights and Harbour Lake at Haydock in May 2024 on a good ground 3m handicap hurdle, though he gets a 9lb and 10lb swing in the weights with both today.
His record around Cheltenham is reasonable (second, fourth, fourth), though he certainly likes going left-handed on nice ground.
With a wind surgery in the bag, he could be ready for a career-best effort.
