By Tony Calvin - 26 February 2026
A tricky 2m1f handicap chase, and not least because four of the eight like to press forward (see pace maps below).
I’ve no betting opinion, but Musselburgh winner Breizh River opened at 12s in two places (though effectively one outfit) on Thursday and that looked okay, especially if all eight went.
He went up 4lb for that win but there could be more to come from him – that was his first start in a tongue-tie as an 8yo – so any double-figures would be half-tempting win and place.
He is one of the many pace angles though and, more importantly, anything bigger than 7s has already been hoovered up in the early exchanges.
The usual 48-hour shaving before the market tends to become a touch more palatable again on Saturday morning.
By the way, there is a largely dry forecast for Kelso now. The current ground is good to soft over hurdles, with the same but soft in places over fences.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.11am): Doyen Du Bar has shortened into 10/3 tops and a general 3s, and Breizh River has continued to be cut, now into 11/2. He was 12s on Thursday.
The Doncaster ground is now soft (see details below).
I know races are not run on paper but I counted that at least six of these eight have made the running in recent outings, with Coolanna and Livingonaprayer the two that have raced a bit chillier so far.
So who knows how this will play out tactically?
It is not a race that I will be betting in – and the fact that it is a dead-eight should deter each-way backers until much closer to the off-time – but Park Princess could be the pick of the current prices at [8/1], as at 5pm.
She ran well below form in heavy ground at Warwick last time but we can forgive her that disappointment on the going and a repeat of her earlier, agonising nose defeat at Haydock in December (she won at odds-on at Fakenham next time under today’s jockey) probably just about makes her the one to beat here. And 8s is big enough.
But this is tricky with a capital T.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.16am): Dream Shadow is the main shortener, She opened up at 13/2 on Thursday, and is now 7/2, which could be coming under pressure shortly.
This race pretty much lost all of its interest when Iroko and Matata decided to swerve it at the overnight stage, so this is Protektorat’s to lose. It’s a sad state of affairs when we couldn’t even muster a 10yo to contest this prize.
I guess his rivals and would-be layers at heavy odds-on (the first prices up on Thursday had him ranged between [1/5] and [1/10]) could/would cling to the hope that he was a 41-length last of two finishers here back in 2021, his sole run at the track, but this looks another uber-easy 34k for Dan Skelton’s trainers’ title haul.
Money-buyers can only avail themselves of [1/7] now, if they so wish.
I wouldn’t bother myself, ladies and gentlemen. The fences still have to be jumped.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.16am): Protektorat is now a general 2/15 and 1/8.
Brookie is a NR, so five runners.
If the 1.25pm at Donny was full of pace then it looks like James Bowen could get an uncontested lead on Mighty Bandit if he wants it, though Hercule Du Seuil could have something to say about that, having been ridden forcefully on occasions when trained by Willie Mullins.
Incidentally, Hercule Du Seuil is one of two horses on the day (Capodanno being the other in the 3.45pm at Newbury) that JP McManus has sent to Neil Mulholland.
We are guessing whether Saturday is D-Day for the Mulholland pair but Mighty Bandit is predictably favoured by the betting at [15/8] and [7/4].
He looked one of the many costly flops from the Caldwell February 2024 dispersal sale, having changed hands for an eye-watering 420,000 euros there, but, as with Staffordshire Knot, time has been a great healer for the purchasers and he has looked very good in successes at Newbury and here on his last two starts.
I suspect he will net his hat-trick here, despite going up 13lb in the handicap, but I can let him go unbacked at the current odds.
I wouldn’t like to lay the [15/8] myself, though.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.24am): Queens Gamble is into 2s from 3s, and could be set to challenge 7/4 Mighty Bandit for favouritism at some point. Maybe not, though.
A relatively tight-knit race on ratings, with all 11 having the potential to take further leaps forward, so this looked another hard race to decipher.
The early Thursday betting was all around the place, with seven trading in single figures, and some big discrepancies.
For example, The Last Cloud ranged from 4s to 8s, and Kosac d’Oudairies from 4s to 10s.
I probably like Lord Byron best at 10s if pushed, with the general 9s acceptable.
He is the only 4yo in the line-up and he gets what seems a very generous 12lb age allowance from the older horses (and a further 3lb from the penalised Le Beau Madrik).
An ex-Ballydoyle inmate, he bumped into a smart one in Klycot on his debut for Faye Bramley at Exeter and then ran a great race when fourth in that strong Cheltenham race won by Maestro Conti, with the subsequent runaway Adonis winner La Luna Artista a neck behind him in fifth.
He still holds an entry in the Fred Winter and the Triumph- he isn’t qualified in time for the former now – but this is a very handsome pot in its own right (45k+ to the winner) and connections presumably think first-time cheekpieces will improve him, too.
If there is an overpriced one in here, he looks to be it at 10s, now that all the big Thursday prices about Gaelic Rover (33s and 28s etc) have crumbled into just 12s, available in two places, as this goes live.
That sounds a big move, but the reality is probably far different. A mere sniff/whiff of the barmaid’s apron, probably.
They’ll be a Rule 4 on early bets as 8s chance The Blue Room is a NR as at 9.26am on Friday (off colour).
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.29am): Lord Byron was 11s in a place on Friday morning, and 10s, but is now into 13/2 best. Gaelic Rover, 33s and 28s and 25s on Thursday, is now a general 10s.
As at 8.44am, we are down to eight in this.
King Turgeon was a NR as at 7.45am (going), followed by Jubilant at 7.49am (going). King’s Threshold followed suit at 8.23am.
Lord Accord and Kelce are the latest withdrawals.
The big beneficiary of Marble Sands not being confirmed for this race on Thursday morning was Theformismighty, who would have been 3lb out of the weights had he stayed in.
Dan Skelton’s horse probably isn’t a bad price at 12s (bigger win-only to very limited sums). He put a series of poor performances behind him when winning at Newcastle last time and, even after a 3lb rise for that, he remains 11lb lower than his peak mark.
This looks a very competitive renewal of the Grimthorpe though, with Moroder looking for his third win in the race, so I wasn’t surprised to see it was 6s the field on Thursday.
It’s not a contest that particularly appeals to me, but Some Scope had a fair bit going for him at a general 9s on Thursday, even if the forecast rain is an obvious worry (he may not run if it gets testing).
But now you’ll have to take [15/2] or 7s.
Forget his run in a Cross Country race at Cheltenham last time, a race in which he was actually punted for, but was never sighted in, and in any case the vet reported he lost his left fore shoe and had a small overreach on his left fore leg there.
And he has had a wind op since, too.
He was pulled up in this race last season (he was second in 2024 on soft, though only two finished that day) but if he returns to the form of his course and distance win in December then he has a very fair chance here. The visor that he wore there, but was left off at Cheltenham, is back on here.
Richard Hobson has won with his last two starters and Some Scope not only has good course form (form figures of 12P1), he is also still weighted to go well despite that recent win, being 2lb lower than a Rowland Meyrick win in December 2024.
Some Scope has a fair old chance here, but this race does have depth, and I’d be wary of 6s poke King’s Threshold in particular.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.32am): Dartmoor Pirate, 7s on Friday, now heads the betting at a general 5s.
Bertie’s Ballet was available at 40s and a general 33s in the ante-post market, but I personally couldn’t have got involved then as he also had an option of running in the 2m5f handicap hurdle on the card.
But now he is here, I think he is worth an each-way swing.
I was sorely tempted to lapse into my bad old ways and rush out this Saturday preview when I saw he had drifted to 50s early on Thursday afternoon (like Florida Dreams at [9/2] in the 3.30pm – see below), but I thought better of it.
The current 40s is fine.
He certainly isn’t in any way a sexy conveyance, as a lowly-rated 8yo from a small yard (even though Dianne Sayer is a very able operator who is operating at 15 per cent this season and who has had a lot of success at this track – and she also runs Heart Above in here), but he could have punting legs off a mark of 118.
He stepped up on a modest reappearance (though that came after a 339-day absence, so it is easily forgiven) with a fair fourth over 2m on heavy ground here earlier in the month, and he was dropped 4lb for that brace of efforts.
His current mark is only 1lb higher than he won off at Haydock in January 2025 and the course bumper winner also finished a good fourth in the Grade 2 novices’ hurdle on this card in 2024 on good to soft ground.
Maybe he would prefer deeper ground, but I am not letting that slight concern deter me from getting involved at his current price.
You can make cases for most of these are their respective odds – not many missed Quaviste’s run last time (a typical Skelton tee-up job ahead of a big handicap, perhaps…), and certainly not the market now at a general 6s, and dual race winner Cracking Rhapsody, Hamlet’s Night and Jet to Vegas are the obvious other likely lads – but Bertie’s Ballet would be my number one to small each-way stakes at 40s.
He could be the kind of horse to trade at three figures win-only on the exchange though and doesn’t look an obvious shortener. The 40s will do for me though, and I’ll press up at bigger if required.
The first-time cheekpieces for Dedicated Hero are interesting given Sandy Thomson’s record with the headgear (see below), and the 14s and 12 about that one was quickly taken on Thursday.
This Grade 2 winner and course and distance scorer returns to hurdles on a very decent mark of 123, having started the season off 130.
He could run a big race, but so could all of these, to be fair. I’ll have a small bet on him at double figures, though.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.38am): Quaviste has shortened into 5s from 13/2 and now heads the betting. Just. Spectacularsunrise was available at 11s and 10s in some places yesterday, but is now best at 11/2. He is 9/2 joint favourite with Quaviste with one firm, and is strongest of the pair at the moment.
Our Power, the 7s third favourite, is a NR (bruised foot).
The ground is good to soft, soft in places, at Newbury.
I can’t get too excited about these veterans’ races these days.
I know some approach these contests by focusing on the youngest in the field, so that would bring in the aforementioned Capodanno and Brave Kingdom as the only 10yos, priced up at 16s and [11/2] respectively.
I can see the case for both – it wasn’t too long ago the former was winning the Cotswold Chase and he has been dropped to 152, and the latter ran much better at Taunton last time – but I can easily resist any temptation I had to get involved here.
Mainly because I didn’t/don’t have any.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.41am): Two big movers here, Brave Kingdom and Gabbys Cross. Brave Kingdom is into 10/3 from 6s on Thursday. Gabbys Cross was 10s in a place yesterday and he is now a general 4s.
Florida Dreams may have won four races in his career but he has been a bitter disappointment in my eyes. He looked a handicapper to follow after an eye-catching fifth in the Greatwood in November 2024, but he has been beaten in his 10 subsequent starts.
However, two of those (at the start of this season) have been narrow defeats and he really ought to be going close here, having been dropped 2lb for a spin over 3m at Musselburgh last time.
I didn’t think he was given too forceful a ride there over a trip he possibly struggles to stay (Brian Hughes is a hard jockey to gauge as he sits quieter than a 10lb claimer), and everything looks in place for him to go very close here, back to his optimum trip.
The course form box is ticked too, the horse having finished fifth off a 3lb higher mark in the Morebattle here last season, and this is no-excuses territory here.
I was surprised the first firm up put him in at [9/2], behind Good To Be Alive at [11/4], but that was taken soon enough on Thursday.
He is now 3s across the board. He is a marginal call at that price now, and probably a walkway one given his profile. I have.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.45am): Frontier Prince is into 5s from 7s.
I won’t keep you long here.
If pushed, I think Triple Trade is a pretty solid each-way proposition here and I was quite surprised he is big as 16s in a spot.
In short, I think his 10-length third to Donnacha and Jagwar at Cheltenham last time was very strong handicap form, which is why the handicapper refused to even drop him 1lb for that.
I tend to agree with the assessor. He may find one or two too good, but he has definite place terms once again and if you can access that 16s then he is a bet for me.
However, that 16s is probably beyond the reach of most, so the 14s elsewhere is acceptable, too.
SATURDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE (7.45am): Nothing much doing here that I could see. Vincenzo is strong enough at 11/4.
Bertie’s Ballet each way at 40/1 in 2.55pm at Kelso (40s five places is available, as is 33s, six places, for those who can access but play at the best combo where you can) – he may well drift, though 40s, available in six places, is big enough for me
GOING – Good to soft, soft in places (Hurdles is good to soft)
Going Stick 5.7, Saturday 7.45am
Saturday morning course update: Cloudy. Sat 28th RACEDAY: 7c overcast this am with a chance of sunny spells and possibly a slight chance of a light showers later (less than 1mm)
Weather (yr.no latest – 6.30am Saturday): 3.1mm (but not due to start until 4pm)
GOING – Soft
53.1% soil moisture
Going Stick – Chase 4.4; Hurdles 4.6
(was 5.6, Friday 7.45am)
Rails: Chase – Innermost line except for round hotel bend which is 4yds off the inside, some fresh take offs and landings Rail and hurdles to be moved after racing the day before to provide a fresh line.
Saturday morning course update: 4mm rain yesterday 4mm so far this morning up until 7.30m Remaining overcast with further showers this morning. Clearing to be mainly dry from mid day. Gentle westerly breeze – 9C
Weather (yr.no latest – 6.30am Friday): 4.5mm Saturday
GOING – Good to soft (changed after first race)
GOING STICK: 3.9 Hurdles; 3.8 Chase , Saturday 6am
Saturday morning course update: 1.6mm yesterday evening. Forecast: Currently dry & breezy. Chance of less than 1mm before 9am. Sunny spells and breezy later, highs of 10C.
Weather (yr.no latest – 6,30am) : 0.8mm Saturday (sunny during racing)
Russell and Scudamore visor; Chapel Green, 1.10pm Kelso; 1-2
Russell 4-39 since 2009
Faye Bramley cheekpieces; Lord Byron, 2.15pm Kelso; 0-1
Sandy Thomson cheekpieces; Dedicated Hero, 2.55pm Kelso; 6-31 since 2016 (decent enough stat)
Greenall and Guerriero visor; Homme Public, 1.55pm Doncaster; 0-3
Anthony Honeyball cheekpieces; Jasmin De Grugy, 2.30pm Doncaster; 0-4
Sam Thomas visor; Our Power, 3.15pm Newbury; 0-1 (loser was second back in 2020)
Nick Scholfield cheekpieces; Gabbys Cross, 3.15pm Newbury; 0-2
1.10pm Kelso : Doyen Du Bar, Hombre de Guerra, Aeros Luck, Breizh River, Chapel Green (prom)
1.25pm Doncaster : Barra Rua, Broomfield Aderra, Dream Shadow, Easy Love, Limerick Lass, Park Princess
1.40pm Kelso : Minella Drama, Protektorat, Stolen Silver (prom)
1.55pm Doncaster : Mighty Bandit, Hercule Du Seuil (prom)
2.15pm Kelso : Le Beau Madrik (prom), Kosac d’Oudairies, Red Oak (prom), Starmount, The Last Cloud (prom) – The Blue Room is a NR
2.30pm Doncaster : New Order, Some Scope, Moroder – King Turgeon and Jubilant are NRs, as is King’s Threshold, Kelce and Lord Accord
2.55pm Kelso : Laafi, Jet To Vegas (prom), Serious Challenge?, Hot Fuss , Captain Hugo (prom), Serious Operator (prom), Bertie’s Ballet
3.15pm Newbury : Torn and Frayed, Eldorado Allen, Copperhead, Brave Kingdom –Our Power is a NR according to owners
3.30pm: Kelso : Fingal’s Hill, Skyjack Hijack, Both Barrels, Smart Decision (prom), Frontier Prince (prom)
3.45pm Newbury : Twinjets, Josh The Boss, Glengouly
Good: Jamie Snowden (another 9-2 winner on Thursday), Sandy Thomson, Tom Lacey, Patrick Neville, Faye Bramley , Ewan Whillans, Nicky Henderson. Nick Scholfield, Harry Derham, Emmet Mullins (smallish sample), Warren Greatrex, Richard Hobson (two winners, three runners), Ben Pauling (9-2 and 6-4 winners on Thursday), Tom Symonds
Fair: Ross O’Sullivan (fair/moderate), Donald McCain (3-1 winner on Thursday), Tom Ellis (5-1 winner on Thursday, and 10-11 scorer on Friday), Dan Skelton (5-1 winner on Thursday and another on Friday), James Owen (fair/good) , Olly Murphy (fair/good), Seamus Mullins, Fergal O’Brien, Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies, Dianne Sayer, Jennie Candlish (10-11 winner on Thursday), Emma Lavelle, Anthony Honeyball (fair/moderate), Joe Tizzard, Paul Nicholls, Dylan Cunha, Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, Greenall and Guerriero (12-1 winner on Thursday, and 9-2 scorer on Friday), Charlie Longsdon, David Pipe, Neil Mulholland (11-2 winner on Friday), Russell and Scudamore (fair/good after winners on Thursday and Friday), Hobbs and White (fair/good), Nicky Richards, Donald Whillans, Gary and Josh Moore (80-1 winner on the all-weather at Lingfield on Friday)
Moderate: Adam Nicol, Sam Thomas (moderate for him), Bailey and Nicholls (moderate/fair – though snapped a modest spell from a small sample with a winner in opener at Newbury on Friday), Tim Easterby
Don’t know (small samples): Tristan Davidson (one 11-1 winner from two runners though), Georgina Nicholls (one 25-1 winner from two runners though) William Durkan (one winner, five runners), Tom Dascombe, Oliver Signy, Ruth Jefferson, Peter Atkinson
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