Saturday ITV Racing Tips: Best bets for Kempton, Lingfield and Newcastle
Kempton racecourse
The ITV cameras are rolling at three racecourses on Saturday, February 25 and the Planet Sport tipsters have a red-hot selection for each of the seven races on offer.
The Cheltenham Festival is just round the corner and there's three Grade 2s to get stuck into this weekend.
Let's start with a quick canter through our top tips, you can get more detail on why we've picked them further down the page.
Don't forget to check out the racecards, results and live odds in the Planet Sport racing live centre.
Selections:
13:30 (Lingfield) Exalted Angel
13:50 (Kempton) Rare Middleton
14:05 (Lingfield) Forest Of Dean
14:25 (Kempton) Solo
15:00 (Kempton) Killer Kane
15:25 (Newcastle) Kitty's Light
15:40 (Kempton) Hansard
13:30 (Lingfield) Exalted Angel
Tone The Barone got back to winning ways at Wolverhampton when ahead of Alligator Alley (fourth), but it would be no surprise if the latter were able to reverse the form having given the former 7lb on that occasion.
Arecibo is more than capable of winning a race of this nature and commands plenty of respect.
However, the vote goes to Exalted Angel, with the hope that a first-time visor can make the difference having gone close on the all-weather in recent months.
13:50 (Kempton) Rare Middleton
Scriptwriter puts his Triumph Hurdle credentials on the line in the Coral Adonis Juvenile Hurdle in what is undoubtedly the best race of its type in the UK this season.
Eight go to post, seven are previous winners and the Nicky Henderson newcomer Pawapuri was rated 85 on the Flat for William Haggas, so is obviously of interest making her debut here.
Joseph O'Brien's Nusret has been beaten similar distances the last twice by Lossiemouth and Blood Destiny so Willie Mullins will be watching with interest - but Rare Middleton might be the one to concentrate on.
He is in receipt of 5lb from Scriptwriter and gets 3lb off Perseus Way, so if he is to line up in the Triumph he needs to be winning this.
Bought for 215,000 guineas out of Andy Oliver's yard and sent to Paul Nicholls, he won at Taunton on his debut narrowly but with loads left in the tank.
Nicholls spoke highly of him afterwards, which considering he only won a minor race was noteworthy, and this speed-favouring track should suit him.
14:05 (Lingfield) Forest Of Dean
Lord North may be vulnerable first time out in the BetUK Winter Derby so the safer bet may be stablemate Forest Of Dean, who has had a recent run.
Should John and Thady Gosden's Lord North run anything close to his official rating of 118 the others may as well stay at home, but he was beaten in this first time out last year.
14:25 (Kempton) Solo
The champion trainer could also be celebrating after Solo runs in the Coral Pendil Novices' Chase.
He gets 5lb from Harry Fry's favourite, Boothill, but he had his limitations exposed - on good ground at least - behind Tommy's Oscar at Doncaster.
Solo faced a very stiff task giving 8lb to Balco Coastal last time out as he went on to give the unbeaten Gerri Colombe a fright in Grade One company on his next start.
Nicholls has an incredible record in this, having won it 12 times already, with four of those in the colours of Johnny de la Hey, so this has clearly been his target.
15:00 (Kempton) Killer Kane
Killer Kane can provide Joe Tizzard with victory in the Coral Trophy at Kempton - a race he never won as a jockey.
Despite his father Colin claiming the race twice with Theatre Guide and Mister Malarky, Joe had already called it quits in the saddle by then.
His first season as the licence holder has been tough at times but there have still been over 40 winners at a respectable strike-rate.
A Grade Two victory for Oscar Elite last weekend was a welcome boost, his most prestigious to date, but winning this £150,000 handicap would give him a huge lift heading into the major festivals.
Killer Kane is racing from 3lb out of the handicap, although that is solely due to the presence of Frodon, still good enough to be third in the King George on his penultimate outing.
Without him the weights would rise by 7lb, leaving Killer Kane comfortably in the handicap. But as it is he is only 3lb wrong, along with last year's winner Cap Du Nord.
It could well be those two fighting out the finish as Cap Du Nord was impressive at Ascot last week, but there has to be a question just how much that will have taken out of him.
Instead it should pay to side with the fresher horse who won over course and distance last time out, relishing the good ground.
15:25 (Newcastle) Kitty's Light
Kitty's Light looks a handicap good thing in the Vertem Eider Chase at Newcastle.
Christian Williams won the race last year with Win My Wings, who went on to beat Kitty's Light in the Scottish National.
Unfortunately that was the second time he had been beaten by a stablemate in a big race as Cap Du Nord held him off in the Coral Trophy.
Kitty's Light was running off marks in the 140s this time last year, yet is off 132 this weekend. Jack Tudor also makes the journey north rather than ride Cap Du Nord at Kempton.
15:40 (Kempton) Hansard
Gary Moore's Hansard looks the solid option in the Sky Bet Dovecote Novices' Hurdle.
Unbeaten over hurdles, he beat a decent type in Master Chewy at Plumpton and this does not look the strongest Grade Two ever run.
