By Tony Calvin - 8 February 2026
Wincanton have passed their morning inspection despite 9.6mm rain last night. It is now heavy there.
It’ll be a grueller – and some suggested Constitution Hill ran there ffs. Jeremy Scott made the right call with Golden Ace, too.
That said, the morning going stick is 4.6. It was 4.0 on Thursday.
Ascot has been dry and the ground is now good to soft, soft in places.
Haydock’s inspection is still (Professor Pat) Pending but it looks promising ahead of their 8am call.
They updated: “30mm last 7 days. Dry on Friday and Raceday. It has dipped to ground temp -2.8°C at sunrise creating a light frost crisp on uncovered areas. All vulnerable areas have been frost-covered on Thursday as a precaution and no frost under the covers. Update follows.”
I spoke/typed too soon.
They inspect again at 10am “as a small number of areas on the track are currently unraceable due to frozen ground.”
Haydock are now looking again at 11am – and they have passed it.
It is dry and bright at all three tracks.
Haydock betting is slightly on hold with the 10am inspection but the forecast suggests it really should be okay unless the frost is really embedded in the ground.
Obviously, Kabral Du Mathan being a NR in the Rendlesham has changed the market dramatically, and currently French Ship is the new [7/4] favourite, with Lud’or at [5/2]. A oner could see those two switch in the market, though.
Trade looks minimal but Whiskey Yankee looks the strongest in the 3m Grade novices’ hurdle at 2.40pm at 6s and [13/2]. Small beer, though.
In the Grand National Trial at 3.15pm, Deafening Silence, [11/4] on Tuesday, is weak out to 5s, and over a point bigger win-only on the exchanges. Myretown heads the market at [10/3], and Rivers Corners and Holokea are currently strong enough in a light market.
Wincanton’s Kingwell Hurdle is as underwhelming as Ascot’s Graded races when it comes to the betting side, but Alexei is now a general [4/7] and [8/15] poke, with Rubaud at 3s, Secret Squirrel at [13/2] and Intellotto at 28s (from 66s on Thursday).
Ascot sees five races on ITV.
Mondoui’boy is into [5/4] in the opener at 1.15pm.
With Thomas Mor a NR, The Jukebox Kid is now the [8/13] jolly in a three-runner race at 1.50pm.
Lightningupyours has firmed up to [9/2] in the handicap hurdle at 2.25pm, and Jipcot is the springer (ish) in the handicap chase at 3pm, as he now heads the market at 3s. He was [11/2] on Friday.
Jonbon is [4/7] in the Grade 1, with Pic D’orhy at [9/4] – the latter is 11/4+ win-only – with Edwardstone at 14s, Blow Your Wad at 22s, Classic Maestro at 125 and Heltenham at 150s.
All change here.
Sixteen became six at the overnight stage, with none of the four at the top of the ante-post market showing up.
And were it not for Catchintsavo being confirmed very late for this on Thursday morning, we wouldn’t have had any guaranteed pace, though Starzand is a prominent racer.
There is no form stand-out in here but Ben Pauling was talking up Mondoui’boy earlier in the week, which may partly explain why his horse heads the betting here at [15/8], but [7/4] and [13/8] is the more general price.
The £115k purchase from David Maxwell’s dispersal sale did appear to win very well in a maiden hurdle at Ludlow on his debut for Pauling last month – most of the race took place in the fog – and it will not surprise anyone if he wins here.
But there is not a lot to choose between the top four in the betting form-wise – and Emma Lavelle’s Irish recruit Kildinan Prince is obviously unexposed after just the one run – so it’s a tricky one to call.
You’d think Catchintsavo would go on again, and Starzand will sit second, and then the taps will be turned on rounding the final bend.
Maybe Catchintsavo at [11/2] is the possibly most attractive price – the horse he beat at Ludlow won by a wide margin next time, albeit at [8/15] in a three-runner race – for those that want an interest.
Wincanton has passed their inspection early.
I was going to say the Grade 2 Kingwell Hurdle will now have no bearing on the Champion Hurdle after Golden Ace was understandably not confirmed because of the heavy ground – we also lost Potters Charm and Kateira at the overnight stage – but the reigning champess is only rated 152 and Alexei is just 4lb shy of that figure (Rubaud, three-time winner of the Elite here, is actually only 3lb shy, but he has to give Alexei 2lb), so maybe there will be a minor ripple if Joe Tizzard’s 6yo wins this well.
You have to think he will, as all of Rubaud’s best form has come on a decent surface and it will presumably (or obviously) ride very testing here if the meeting goes ahead.
Alexei was an impressive winner of the Greatwood on officially soft ground before a solid third to two better-handicapped horses in Wilful and Hot Fuss at Ascot last time off a mark of 147, and he currently trades at 25s tops for the Champion Hurdle.
That price tells you just what an open race it is this year.
Anyway, 8/11 Alexei played 2/1 Rubaud, with 11s Secret Squirrel and 66s Intellotto in the very early betting on Thursday morning.
Intellotto, having his first start for Daisy Hitchins, actually isn’t out of this on adjusted official ratings – though I’d take his hurdling mark of 140 with a large dose of salt myself – but the 133-rated striking chestnut Secret Squirrel has a big job on, making his first start for over a year after falling at Newbury.
But this could be a messy tactical race – Rubaud will likely go on, but the two outsiders could be right up his arse – and he did look a big improver when previously beating a 139-rated Kabral Du Mathan at Windsor, and you would not fall off your chair if he won.
That said, I was surprised to see him just a 6s poke in places (though 11s in a spot, which probably ain’t going to last – it lasted ten minutes and is now 10s).
There were mixed messages about him from trainer Hughie Morrison yesterday.
No, I’m none the wiser, either.
As with most of these small-field Graded races, it’s a watch-not-bet race, all day long.
As at 8.15am on Friday, the best prices were: 4/6 Alexei, 2/1 Rubaud, 9/1 Secret Squirrel, 50/1 Intellotto
This race did well to get four runners, having attracted just six at the five-day stage, but it is not a race that holds any betting appeal whatsoever.
Thomas Mor may have to give the field 3lb but he has the best form and is proven at the track and you can see why he is evens.
However, the ground may be a concern for him, for all he ran well enough in an Albert Bartlett on soft, and there are surely better evens pokes every day of the week (I saw a Caesars Palace casino punter won £230,000 on the toss of a coin at odds of 2.03, just over evens, on the Superbowl – he got the value, though…)
Furthermore, The Jukebox Kid and Western Knight are also forward-goers, and 11s chance Crest Of Fortune is not out of this by any means (indeed he is bang there form-wise with the two rivals mentioned in this sentence).
Nothing doing.
Haydock passed their third inspection at 11am.
It is now soft, heavy in places, after more rain overnight.
Cutting straight to the chase, I think Kabral Du Mathan will win, but backing general [8/15] pokes – though there is [8/13] in a place – really is not for me.
I have been hugely impressed by his wide-margins successes here (by 12 lengths off a mark of 140) and in the Relkeel last time – who hasn’t? – and I can fully see why some wanted him supplemented for the Champion Hurdle after that Cheltenham win over 2m4f last time.
It sounded as though connections were initially going to Fontwell and then on to Aintree with him, but maybe Cheltenham, and a shot at the Stayers’ Hurdle, is back on the cards again.
It won’t be if he can’t beat this lot, even under a 6lb penalty, but I suppose the worsening ground could be a fair leveller, bringing mudlovers like Beauport into play (incidentally, that one was confirmed, taken out and then put back in this race again on Thursday morning).
And the favourite’s stamina is not assured here as he steps up to 3m for the first time.
I am actually surprised he is running – he isn’t now, as he was pulled out at 7.04am (going) – given the combo of ground and trip, but it is 34 bags to the winner and Skelton’s trainer title coffers.
Nothing doing x 2.
On a Six Nations weekend, I should really chuck a lazy few quid on Captain Teague – my son wasn’t named after Iron Mike, but he could have been – but this is one deep handicap puzzle to solve. And Paul Nicholls’ horse has already been cut into 6s.
I made half a case for No Ordinary Joe at 50s in the ante-post column and it is interesting to see him tried in first-time cheekpieces here; therefore, if he wins and the stewards ask about the improvement, connections have a ready-made excuse.
And, furthermore, his two siblings both won in cheekpieces, albeit not at the first time of asking.
If I could access the 50s (I can’t) – and nor can anyone else now, as the price went overnight – I’d have a little each-way on him, so I will have to settle for a small dabble on the exchange, which may be a wiser course of action as he is more of a win-only proposition anyway than a 40s each-way play, five places.
He did show a little bit more (if not much) at Windsor last time, his first run after a wind op, and a mark of a 124 is a gift if he is anywhere near the form he showed for Hendo and JP.
A big if, granted.
Range is interesting in first-time cheekpieces too, but Jurancon is more dangerous.
The David Pipe yard is in the best form it has been for ages and that could be the spark for Jurancon to return to form after two modest runs this season.
The handicapper has been a right tight-arse by dropping him only 1lb for those efforts, but a mark of 131 could still be exploitable if he returns to the form he showed last season as a progressive novice. Trip and ground look fine too, and 10s on Thursday looked an okay price.
As is usually the case though, all the Oddschecker bold type has been taken overnight, and he is now a general 8s.
I liked Ubatuba’s Leicester win but the fact that Ben Sutton can’t claim his usual 5lb is obviously off-putting in a deep-enough field.
In fact, there are several likeable types in here, who all have their chance, which is why it is [7/2] the field, with six of the 10 runners trading in single figures.
Six of the 10 are also last-time-out winners, and the one that interests me most – though I have to stress I haven’t had a bet yet and I am unlikely to – is Whiskey Yankee, as he looked a proper grinder when winning in testing ground over an extended 2m5f at Ascot last time. He is a half-brother to the stable and owner’s 3m winner Ed Keeper.
He still doesn’t look the finished article, as he looked awkward and gangly at Ascot – he is the youngest in here as a 5yo, so that isn’t a great surprise – but you couldn’t fault his attitude there.
Sam Thomas had a rare brief quiet spell before Steel Ally won last weekend, and he could have another Grade 2 winner for the same owner here.
The 9s yesterday has been trimmed into [15/2], though, so no bets for me.
I probably write too much in these columns, so I won’t keep you long here.
Take out the price angle, and I’d say Joyeux Machin and Montregard interested me most.
Add in their odds of [7/2] and [9/2] though – and those are the cherry-picked top prices – and they become the two horses that interested me least, especially as the latter is 3lb wrong in the weights.
I’d say Threeunderthrufive is a fair 14s poke, as the handicapper has cut the 11yo some slack and he is now 6lb lower than when touched off by a nose by Victtorino in this race last season (he also won this race in 2024), but I’ll take a backseat here.
The 14s is decent enough though, especially given the form of the yard.
I haven’t fancied a horse trading in doubles figures as much as I have about Grand Albert for a fair while.
And I have acted accordingly, as much as I could have done, anyway.
I tipped him at 20s (and backed him win-only around that price, as I could only play on a highly illiquid exchange market myself) in the ante-post column on Tuesday, and my eyes nearly popped out of my bald skull when seeing one firm open up at 28s about him on Thursday afternoon.
A friend managed to get me £25 each way at that price, and then the horse’s odds took a quick tumble everywhere.
By 3.10pm on Thursday, the best prices going were 16s and 14s (available in one place apiece), but I do think he deserves to be trading in single figures, so the fact that he is now just 12s doesn’t deter me from pressing up again for the fourth time.
I can hardly recommend this, but he is 12s, four places, in a spot and that seems a very good play if you have a friend in the Stoke trading team.
Here is what I wrote about the horse on Tuesday:
“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.”
Now, the field has held up very well (just one withdrew) but the icing on the cake is the booking of Sean Bowen, remarkably having his first ride for McCain.
If there is one jockey you need/want in an extreme stamina test in sapping conditions, it is Bowen.
On October 30, McCain said his about the horse in a Racing Post interview:
“He started out well when chasing last term, finishing third behind Caldwell Potter and then winning at Wetherby.
He then ran at Kelso, in a race won by Myretown, and made a big mistake early on and got a fright.
“The ground went against him after that. He’s a work in progress but he’s related to Suny Bay and possesses a traditional staying style. Hopefully he’ll develop into a long-distance chaser for those Haydock races as he relishes dig in the ground.”
Let’s hope a long-term plan comes to fruition, then.
There are a few dangers – Deafening Silence is okay at [4/1] and nearly a point bigger win-only, and the Russell/Scudamore form on Friday will please Myretown backers – but I’ll be disappointed if Grand Albert doesn’t go well, even if this will be slow-motion stuff in demanding ground.
I’ve backed him win-only and each-way, including at 12s.
I playfully said Pic D’orhy was not a bad each-way bet at [9/4] in my ante-post column on Tuesday – and I half-meant it, too.
I know we have seen plenty of surprise results this season but I really do struggle to see this as anything other than a match – yes, I know, I am real original thinker – for all old boy Edwardstone showed he still had some life in his 12yo legs last time.
The problem is three-fold.
1.The [9/4] has been taken and he is now a general [15/8] chance.
2.I think the 10yo Jonbon will win, for all that Clarence House win last time was hardly as smooth as silk.
3.The ground will be deeper than the 11yo Pic D’orhy wants it, for all he has won a Grade 2 by 16 lengths, and a Grade 1 by 4 ¼ lengths, on officially soft ground. Timeform called his Aintree Grade success as good to soft, but the Kempton Grade 2 success as heavy, to be fair.
Perhaps Pic D’orhy will have one of his going days from the front, and they won’t get to him, but do you really want to be forcing a bet in a race like this?
Na.
Grand Albert each-way at 12/1 in 3.15pm at Haydock (there is some 12s, four places, in one spot if you can access)
Satturday morning course update: 30mm last 7 days. Dry on Friday and Raceday. It has dipped to ground temp -2.8°C at sunrise creating a light frost crisp on uncovered areas. All vulnerable areas have been frost-covered on Thursday as a precaution and no frost under the covers. Update follows.
Weather (yr.no latest – as at 7.30am Saturday) : Dry and sunny, 3 degrees by 10am
GOING – Good to soft, soft in places
Going stick – Chase: 4.8.; Hurdle: 4.7; Soil Moisture: 41%, Saturday 9.30am
Saturday morning course update: Dry overnight to 6.30am Saturday. 11mm rain recorded through the past 7 days. Temp above zero at 6.30am. Today is due to be cold and dry and sunny. As the temps were due to be below zero on Saturday morning frost covers wete down on take off’s and landings and vulnerable shaded areas., they will be removed this morning. 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 7.30am Saturday): Dry
GOING – Heavy
Going Stick : 4.6, Saturday 7.30am (was 4.0 on Thursday)
(Soil Moisture: 59%)
Rails: Hurdles positioned up the stands rail in the home straight. Chase bends out 6 yards. Hurdle bends out 12 yards
Saturday morning course update: 9.6mm of rainfall Friday evening. Dry since 20:30 Friday. Saturday forecast dry with sunny spells, max 6C.
Weather (yr.no latest – as at 7.30am Saturday): Dry
1.15pm Ascot: Catchintsavo
1.35pm Wincanton: Rubaud, Intellotto, Secret Squirrel
1.50pm Ascot: The Jukebox Kid, Western Knight – Thomas Mor is a NR
2.05pm Haydock: Henri The Second (prom), Beauport, Lud’or
2.25pm Ascot: Fiercely Proud (prom), Range (prom), De Temps En Temps, Kamaxos
2.40pm Haydock: Caughtinyourtrance, Dalston Lad, Kasino Des Mottes (prom), Legendary Luke (prom/lead), Lon Chaney (prom), Skuna Bay
3pm Ascot: Sam Brown, Threeunderthrufive (prom), Jipcot, Joyeux Machin (prom), Invincible Nao
3.15pm Haydock: Top Of The Bill, Monbeg Genius, Myretown, Grand Geste, Rivers Corner (prom)
3.35pm Ascot: Classic Maestro, Jonbon?, Pic D’orhy
Good: Paul Nicholls (treble on Thursday, so he is flying along), Joe Tizzard, Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies, Anthony Honeyball, Nicky Henderson, Tom Symonds (very small sample but another winner on Friday)), Ruth Jefferson, Jamie Snowden, Jonjo and AJ O’Neill (another winner on Friday but a 4-11 loser), David Pipe, Lucy Wadham (another winner on Friday), Alastair Ralph
Fair: Dan Skelton, Hobbs and White, Ben Pauling, Gary and Josh Moore, Jennie Candlish, Alan King, Olly Murphy (fair/good), Donald McCain, Brian Ellison, Charlie Longsdon, Fergal O’Brien, Russell/Scudamore (4-1, 3-1 and 11-8 winners on Friday)
Moderate: Mickey Bowen, Evan Williams (though 9-2 winner on Wednesday, and 8-13 scorer on Friday), Faye Bramley (4-6 winner on Friday), Martin Keighley, Tom Lacey, Venetia Williams
Don’t know: Daisy Hitchins, Hughie Morrison, James Moffatt, Sam Thomas (only three recent runners; one winner), Parkinson and Smith, Emma Lavelle
1.10pm Ayr – Cromwell adds a big question mark to the Ayr opener Firstly, Ayr…
1.50pm Newmarket – 14-runner 3yo 6f handicap sets the ITV ball rolling Reciprocated, Enricher and…
Horse Racing
Greyhounds
Darts
Football
Home