By Tony Calvin - 8 February 2026
I am confused.
Two outfits have priced this up, and their first three in the betting are as follows: Bossman Jack at 10/3, Bobby’s Nelson at 5s and Swindon Village at [11/2].
Why am I confused?
Well, all three are set to run in the 2.21pm at Wetherby on Wednesday.
Yes, I know the meeting has to pass an inspection at 8am on race-day but how can these three head up the ante-post betting?
Don’t be lured in at the moment.
(You can be now as Wetherby has just been called off – but not Bossman Jack, who is set to run at Chepstow on Friday ).
The others with double entries are as follows: Catchintsavo, Kasino Des Mottes, Whiskey Yankee, Coumeenoole and Johnny’s Jury.
Paul Nicholls likes to ready a few for (Mrs) Johnny de la Hey for this meeting (they have three entries this Saturday), and their Talk To The Man was impressive at Taunton on heavy ground at the start of the month.
He is 7s and, given the alternative options of serious rivals, I wouldn’t particularly like to lay that myself, for all he isn’t jocked up like the stable’s Captain Teague and Pic D’orhy on the card.
I appreciate the market is priced up defensively in the main though, as per usual, so there is certainly no need to jump in here.
And Talk To The Man only ran seven days ago.
I know it is set to be dry from Friday 6pm onwards (not a lot of rain on Thursday or Friday – though that forecast changed for all tracks on Wednesday, see below) but it is already heavy at Wincanton, with standing water in places, so the Champion Hurdle entries Golden Ace (carrying a maximum 6lb penalty, as does Rubaud) and Alexei will be on weather watch here.
They’ll not be wanting too much of a grueller in deep ground.
Intellotto and Kateira are also in Ascot, by the way.
The betting for this Kingwell Hurdle sees Golden Ace at 5/4, Alexei at 5/2 and Potters Charm at 4s, Rubaud at 6s (all at best prices), and 20s bar.
I don’t have much issue with that betting, though I am not sure any of the entries will want it as deep as seems likely (unless they have a miraculous dry-out in the last 24 hours or so before race-time, or an improved forecast later in the week).
The rumour early on Wednesday afternoon is that Golden Ace won’t run because of the ground.
Presenting A Queen has been entered in the rescheduled Exeter mares’ novices’ chase at Wincanton on Saturday, so don’t back her ante-post.
We have yet another disappointing entry of just six or this type of race, with Thomas Mor predictably heading the betting at 10/11, even though he carries a 3lb penalty.
That still gives him 7lb and more in hand of his four main rivals (Presenting A Queen is rated a mere 100), so that price is a fair reflection of his chance after his Grade 1 second last time.
I’ve no betting opinion on this race, in truth.
There is a split camp on Kabral Du Mathan.
Some think he should be supplemented for a very winnable Champion Hurdle after his Relkeel Hurdle win over 2m4f+ at Cheltenham last time.
Others think he should go to the Stayers’ Hurdle, a race in which he is entered.
And, perhaps more importantly, connections seemed to be suggesting he would be better off at Aintree, and not the Cheltenham Festival.
Whatever his final destination, this looks a very winnable stepping stone for him, which is why the course winner ranges from 4/5 to 1/2 to bag this Grade 2 Rendlesham Hurdle.
With his 6lb penalty, he probably has more on his plate than those odds suggest, particularly if the ground becomes very testing which would suit the likes of Beauport (if he came here), but it isn’t a race which entices you in from an ante-post betting perspective.
That said, six of the nine five-day entries have alternative options: Beauport, French Ship, Lavida Adiva, Lud’or, Nurse Susan and The Four Sixes (the latter is due to run at Chepstow on Friday).
So Doddiethegreat at 5s and Henri The Second at 14s may not be bad each-way shouts.
A bit thieving though (indeed the latter is as low as 7s), which is why only four outfits have priced this up.
Actually it isn’t thieving, as all the each-way terms are 1/4 1,2, so win-only if anything.
Firstly, Intellotto, Kateira, Confinentic, De Temps En Temps, Hurricane Bay, Kalium and Moveit Like Minnie could go elsewhere this week, and Bingoo is due to run at Hereford on Wednesday.
So I personally wouldn’t touch any of those ante-post, especially Bingoo.
This is still a very tricky race to decipher at this stage however, with 24 five-day entries for a race that could take 18 on the day.
The 50/1 outsider No Ordinary Joe is worth keeping an eye on, though.
He has now come down 13lb for six starts this season, and his Windsor run last time (his first after a wind op), under a 7lb claimer once again, was not totally devoid of promise.
Nearly, but not totally.
If the capable Faye Bramley/AP outfit can coax him back to anywhere near his best for for Nicky Henderson/JP McManus, then a mark of 124 makes him a very dangerous player.
He has been running at and around 2m in his last three starts, and this 2m3f+ will be much more his bag.
Gordon Elliott’s Bally Free is due to run at Clonmel on Thursday, but that meeting is in doubt (inspection on Wednesday). Catchintsavo, Caughtinyourtrance, Kasino Des Mottes, Off The Jury and Whiskey Yankee are others that could go elsewhere, too.
This could end up being a very winnable Grade 2.
It is 4s the field if you can shop around, and that price brings in Dalston Lad, whose form has perked up no end since the application of cheekpieces, including here last time.
I can fully see the case for him, but be warned connections were talking about Ubatuba, a 5s chance who won in a good time at Leicester last time, going straight to Cheltenham after that latest success and trainer Olly Murphy also has Lon Chaney in here.
And Ubatuba’s jockey, Ben Sutton, won’t be able to claim his usual 5lb in this Grade 2.
I’ll see what rocks up on the day myself.
A very healthy five-day entry of 20 for this 3m handicap chase (maximum field of 18), and only Beauport, Rivers Corner and Blow Your Wad hold alternative entries.
However be aware that Henry’s Friend, In d’Or, Invincible Nao, Leader In The Park and Your Darling are in an early-closer on February 21.
So some of those may wait.
This is too tough for me at this stage, if truth be told.
I’ll have another look later, though.
It sounds like Myretown is more likely to head here rather than Kelso on Friday, but that is not set in stone (he wasn’t confirmed for Kelso today). Rivers Corner is another with an alternative option, in his case the aforementioned 100k handicap chase at Ascot.
The price of 3/1 doesn’t do a great deal for me but I do think Deafening Silence is very much the one to beat here after an excellent third to Haiti Couleurs in the Welsh National.
He is 1lb well-in on that effort and this much deeper ground will suit him better. It was officially good to soft at Chepstow but the times suggested it was good to firm.
Stamina assured and a winner on heavy, he ran okay in a very good 2m5f Graduation Chase here in 2024, and this could well be another big pot for Dan Skelton.
Maybe that 3/1 isn’t too bad, after all.
Grand Albert was one of the big beneficiaries of the weights going up massively on Monday after L’Homme Presse and Mr Vango came out, and he looks plenty big enough at 2os in four places as this goes live.
It seems Donald McCain has always had him down as an extreme staying chaser, which may not be surprising (the dam is related to Grand National runner-up Suny Bay, who won this very race by 19 lengths in a five-runner renewal in 1997) and he certainly shaped that way when sticking on to finish fifth to Grand Geste in the 3m1f+ Tommy Whittle here last time.
The handicapper actually dropped him 3lb to a mark of 122 for that (he was rated 130 after winning by a street over 3m at Wetherby four starts ago) and everything about him suggests this extreme test of stamina could well suit him.
The winning pointer (one from two in that sphere) is also unexposed over fences after just five starts (indeed, he has very little mileage on the clock as a 8yo , with just 10 outings under Rules) and I could see him going off in single figures if he runs.
If Grand Albert runs he has a right old chance (I have no idea if this is the plan), so he is surely worth chancing at 20s, though (at 16s if you can’t access the 20s). That 20s is still there in a place as at 6pm on Wednesday, fwiw.
Timeform have him down as having won on heavy, if that attribute is required.
It may be a touch disrespectful to dismiss the old boy Edwardstone, who was back on the winning podium at Kempton last time, but this looks a straight match between Jonbon and Pic D’orhy.
I don’t think many people would have much of a problem with either Jonbon at [8/15] or Pic D’orhy at [9/4] at best prices , as that would seem an accurate assessment of their relative chances.
Let’s face it though, this race is worth nearly 100k to the winner and that is a highly generous pot for a Grade 1 race, which always comes after the DRF and lacks the real big guns over this 2mf trip.
Last year’s winner Pic D’orhy is probably a good each-way bet at 9/4 a quarter the odds, 1,2….
Grand Albert at 20/1 win-only in 3.15pm Haydock (available in four places on the Oddschecker grid).
Writing this intro on Sunday, the highlight of next weekend – and, let’s be clear, a week starts on Monday and not Sunday – is the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase .
There are eight entries – Dan Skelton is understandably pot-hunting and has put in Etalon, Heltenham and Riskintheground, with last year’s winner Pic D’orhy, Jonbon and Edwardstone, followed by Classic Maestro and Blow Your Wad very late on, the others.
There are six in the Grade 2 Reynoldstown novices’ chase on the card.
The only early-closer is the Grand National Trial at Haydock.
It looks like being soft ground at a minimum at Ascot and Haydock (see details below), maybe even deeper.
Wincanton will probably be unraceable by Thursday morning, but hopefully it is dry from then onwards.
And we have below-freezing overnight temperatures to contend with at the end of the week (see below).
There are currently 22 in the Haydock race but the weights are set to rise significantly, with L’Homme Presse (second yesterday) on 12st and Mr Vango (pulled up at Sandown on January 31) on 11st 4lb, with Top Of The Bill next up on 10st 9lb.
So that’s good news for Neo King, currently at the foot of the weights on 8st 7lb.
Indeed, 16 of the 22 are currently out of the weights.
There is ante-post betting on the race, with Deafening Silence the [7/2] favourite across the board.
No dissenters; 7/2 is the price.
The following 12 look to have been confirmed: Top Of The Bill, Monbeg Genius, Myretown, Richmond Lake, Deafening Silence, Gabbys Cross, Git Maker, Grand Geste, Rivers Corner, Holokea, Grand Albert and Neo King.
There are currently eight in Wincanton’s Kingwell Hurdle, headed by Golden Ace. The track will probably be unraceable after the next three days of expected rain.
Actually, make that seven as Wilful has been pulled out before the noon deadline.
More copy will follow on Tuesday when all the prices have been rolled out (see above)
GOING STICK – 5.2, Tuesday 5pm
Wednesday morning course update: 17mm Friday. 9.6mm Saturday. 9mm Tuesday overnight. Outlook: Wednesday 4-9mm daytime then a further 1-8mm overnight. Thursday 4-6mm. Friday & Saturday dry turning much colder. Max Temp 11.2°C mid-week. Min Temp -1.0°C Saturday.
Weather (yr.no latest – as at 6amm Thursday) : 2.8mm Thursday; 4.2mm Friday
GOING – Soft
Going Stick – Chase: 4.2, Hurdle: 3.9; Soil Moisture: 47% Readings taken at 3pm on Friday 6th February
Wednesday morning course update: 5mm rain recorded Tuesday afternoon. 26mm rain recorded through the past 7 days. Odd showers expected later today, Wednesday. Showers and rain forecast for Thursday. Friday is due to turn colder with showers turning to sleet. Saturday looks cold with a possible odd snow flurry.(5mm to 7mm rain now predicted to Saturday). For access to our live weather station and for the latest going please go to www.ascot.com/thegoing
Weather (yr.no latest – as at 11am Wednesday): 5.6mm Thursday; 3.5mm Friday
GOING – Heavy
Wednesday morning course update: 56mm of rainfall in the last 7 days. Including 4.2mm on Tuesday & 1mm early on Wednesday. Forecast – Wednesday mostly dry, with possible light showers in the evening (2-3mm). Thursday dry & breezy. Friday starts dry, before possible sleety showers throughout the afternoon (2-5mm). Dawn temps may dip to -1C briefly on Saturday morning. Saturday dry & sunny, max 6C.
Weather (yr.no latest – as at 6am Thursday): 1mm Thursday; 7.8mm Friday
1.15pm Ascot (16 entries): Catchintsavo, Kasino Des Mottes, Whiskey Yankee, Bossman Jack (set to run at Chepstow on Friday), Coumeenoole, Johnny’s Jury
1.35pm Wincanton (seven entries; supplementary stage by midday, Wednesday): Intellotto, Kateira
1.50pm Ascot (six entries): Presenting A Queen
NB: The Jukebox Kid is also in an early-closer on Feb 21.
2.05pm Haydock (nine entries; supplementary stage by midday, Wednesday): Beauport, French Ship, Lavida Adiva, Lud’or, Nurse Susan, The Four Sixes (due to run at Chepstow on Friday)
2.25pm Ascot (24 entries): Intellotto, Kateira, Bingoo (due to run on Wednesday), Confinentic, De Temps En Temps, Hurricane Bay, Kalium, Moveit Like Minnie
2.40pm Haydock (13 entries): Catchintsavo, Caughtinyourtrance, Kasino Des Mottes, Off The Jury, Whiskey Yankee
3pm Ascot (20 entries): Beauport, Rivers Corner, Blow Your Wad
NB: Henry’s Friend, In d’Or, Invincible Nao, Leader In The Park and Your Darling are in an early-closer on Feb 21
3.15pm Haydock (12 confirmations): Rivers Corner
NB: Git Maker and Neo King are in an early closer on Feb 21
3.35pm Ascot (eight entries; supplementary stage by midday, Wednesday): Blow Your Wad, Heltenham
On this week’s podcast: Intro: Golf, HBF Survey, SmartBash (0-3mins) Racing Review: Busy Week On…
3.30pm Haydock – My Betting Instinct is that First is too big at 16s in…
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