talkSPORT have you covered with free horse racing tips and free bets on Saturday’s fixtures at Cheltenham for the Trials Day and Doncaster.
Tom Lunn has gone through the cards, form, going and much more to help guide your horse racing betting choices.
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Saturday horse racing tips
CHELTENHAM TRIALS DAY
- 12.40: Billytherealbigred 13/2 each-way (1pt)
- 1.15: East India Dock 4/5 (2pts)
- 1.50: Imperial Saint 13/2 Each-way (1pt)
- 3.00: Constitution Hill 1/4 (5pts)
- 3.35: Strong Leader 5/2 (1.5pts)
DONCASTER
- 2.05: Gamesters Guy 8/1 each-way (1pt)
- 2.40: Kateira 13/8 (1.5pts)
Billytherealbigred
This five-year-old has been very impressive over fences for his trainers Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerrerio.
He’s been smashed into 13/2 early on after the declarations and could go off a solid favourite price but for now still appeals as an each-way bet.
He didn’t run that well last time out at Exeter and yet still won quite comfortably keeping on to the task towards the end.
He made mistakes, ran keen, hung and yet still that was enough to beat a 126-rated six-year-old trained by Paul Nicholls in Fire Flyer.
That form doesn’t work out well as that horse has been pulled up either side of that run in December, but did beat Secret Squirrel on his last decent run last February.
But he’s only been upped 7lb for that success and if he can run better, especially back up to 2m4f he should confirm if he’s been caught up to by the handicapper or not.
As for now he appeals a lot against a lot of these more proven and experienced older horses, because he’s a big price, low weight and potentially still well-handicapped.
East India Dock
Even early on this week East India Dock looked to have the most appeal for this Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle.
The James Owen-trained gelding is by Golden Horn and had a decent flat campaign for trainer James Fanshawe and has shown great ability over hurdles since.
He made it 2-2 in that regard here in November in the Grade 2 Triumph Hurdle Trial winning by an incredible 18 lengths to Static.
That form not only works out well but suggests he’s a very promising prospect for connections and owners, the Gredley Family.
He’s got a huge rating of 137 as a result of his first two victories over hurdles, but as they all do, get put through their paces in the trials over the season.
East India Dock is around 6/1 to 7/1 to win the Triumph in March, behind the impressive Lulamba who won readily at Ascot in his first hurdle contest in Britain and has quickly become a big favourite.
A win here will shorten him slightly and cause a few to think he’s good enough to beat the Nicky Henderson-trained market leader.
Imperial Saint
There are 11 runners for this Class 1 Premier Handicap Chase, over an extended 2m4f on the new course.
It’s not quite attracted the huge numbers it could have but should still make for a fascinating contest.
One of the stand outs is Ginny’s Destiny, who just hasn’t quite been up there at the finish since losing to Grey Dawning here in the 2024 Turners Novices’ Chase.
Imperial Saint might be one to keep on side after three wins this season.
He’s seven-years-old and clearly one of a few up and comers over this distance, beating Richmond Lake by over six lengths at Aintree on Boxing Day.
A win here would cement his potential and be a regular in the big races over two and a half miles which is very possible considering he’s one of a few that has progression on the cards.
Constitution Hill
Six early entries in this race but the big one is Constitution Hill, who won’t be taking on Lossiemouth again.
The Henderson-trained super star was as high as 5/6 favourite last time out after being away for nearly a year.
You could tell he needed the run before heading out for a big season – but he still beat Lossiemouth comfortably.
One big takeaway from the Christmas Hurdle was that Lossiemouth is without a doubt a great Grade 1 hurdler, and at only six-years-old is bound to win multiple top races against geldings.
1/4 seems even too short for this five runner contest that sees Brentford Hope the closest market rival at a massive 20/1.
Strong Leader
The Cleeve Hurdle is a bit of a warm up for the Stayers’ Hurdle on the Thursday at Cheltenham Festival.
Any one of these runners could make all to win this as it’s always so competitive and often depends who runs well on the day.
Crambo was a big winner at Aintree bouncing back from a couple of poorer runs in the festivals last year and could be bound for better here.
Strong Leader is also a big contender as he looked the clear favourite at Ascot for the Long Walk, won by Crambo, but he couldn’t get close in the end – with something clearly amiss finishing tenth of ten.
After two strong performances in the Cleeve Hurdle last year at 11/1 and a win at 8/1 in the Liverpool Hurdle, he is a great bet regardless with the hope he can bounce back.
Gamesters Guy
I think this is a wide open contest and as a result, it’s wise to go for Gamesters Guy.
He was just given this rating of 127 and it’s unclear just how good this gelding is having won so easily last time out after placing just a short head off of Navajo Indy, which has worked out well, on debut in October.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he’s still well-weighted and could still improve meaning he can take this Grade 2 hurdle comfortably if he’s going strong again.
He’s upped to 3m and seemed to thrive when upped from 2m to 2m3f last time so the continuation of this to bigger distances wouldn’t be surprising given his pedigree.
Kateira
This is a great early price on the Kayf Tara mare who has Harry Skelton on board, which is crucial as the Skeltons have angled towards this race and are not sending much of a contingent to Cheltenham.
Kateira was a very respectable fifth of ten at Ascot in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle in December placing behind Crambo.
She was given 7lb from the geldings and now back amongst some mares should win comfortably as she did at Kempton in November.
She finished nearly three lengths ahead of Della Casa Lunga who reappears as a rival this time, at 9/1.
Tom Lunn’s Profit/Loss
- From November ’24: +66.44
- From May ’24: +220.39pts
- From July ’23: +432.95pts
All odds correct at time of writing
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