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Remind me next time

Ryan Summerfield returns with four tips for Saturday's racing with selections from the cards at Haydock and Ascot. Don't miss out on these tips.

14:25 Haydock Betting Tips

Bass Rock EW @ 8/1

 

Sandy Thomson is just starting to hit a bit of form at the minute and I think Bass Rock is a great each way bet with up to six places available with some firms. The yard were desperately unlucky not to win the 2018 renewal of this race with Shades Of Midnight, he took up the running after the last and looked all over the winner before being gunned down late by future Grade 1 winner Paisley Park.

8/10 winners of this race were aged 5 or 6, with all of those being second season hurdlers and 8/10 winners of this race carried 11st 3lb or less in weight. Bass Rock fits both of these criteria and he made a very encouraging reappearance at Ayr 3 weeks ago.

Over shorter trips last season he chased home some smart novices but then improved once he was stepped up in trip the the 2m4f-2m5f region. His five length win first time out this season at Carlisle showed his stamina once again and I think he will now find even further improvement going up to 3m. There’s no doubt that going forward he will be very effective as a staying chaser but being only a 5 year old connections are probably doing the right thing minding him and giving him a few more runs over hurdles first, especially given his handicap mark of 130 looks to be lenient.

14:40 Ascot Betting Tips

Song For Someone - Win @ 6/1

 

Song For Someone is a difficult horse to assess but his career best performance came when winning this race from the front first time out last year and I’m hoping that they go for the same again. He’s at his best when piling pressure from the front and his record fresh of 21112 suggest he’s very good off a break too.

Although it was a smaller field, he dominated this race from the front last year beating a pair of 150+ horses in Laurina and Call Me Lord. He followed that up with an impressively tough win in the International Hurdle beating Sceau Royal, Ballyandy and Silver Streak, all of them boosting the form since in good races.

He was comprehensively beaten at Wincanton by Goshen but for some strange reason that day they decided to hold him up and he just didn’t enjoy himself right from the very start. He was never really fluent and just didn’t like being asked to hold back and be restrained. I just really hope they go back to old tactics because he’s really tough when in front and his jumping is very quick and accurate. Even if Goshen pressures for the lead I doubt his jumping under pressure and how he handles pressure too. 

15:00 Haydock Betting Tips

Bristol de Mai - Win @ 7/2

 

Bristol de Mai is going for a record breaking 4th Betfair Chase this weekend and although it looks a high class renewal I think he can take this again for the in-form Nigel Twiston-Davies yard.

He’s quite often referred to as a mud lover or Haydock specialist and whilst the latter is certainly true, with course form 111121, the former is definitely not. Two of his Betfair Chase wins have come with good ground in the description and whilst he is definitely a high class horse on heavy ground, he’s still as effective on a better surface.

He ran a screamer in the 2019 Gold Cup when beaten six lengths on good ground and that came when fresh too, which seems to be the key to him as well. He always runs in this race first time out and as cliche as it is, this race really is his “Gold Cup”. It’s his most effective track and the yard know how to get him cherry ripe for the race, with horses like A Plus Tard having a particularly poor record first time out and likely to have bigger targets later in the season.

15:35 Haydock Betting Tips

Empire Steel - Win @ 6/1

 

Hopefully Sandy Thomson has a good day at Haydock this weekend as I also fancy his other runner on the card in Empire Steel. His last two runs couldn’t be more polar opposite, with a poor pulled up effort at Aintree last time overshadowing a dominant 41 length defeat of Protektorat at Kelso.

Protektorat likely didn’t fire at Kelso, it was a trip too far and he’s had wind surgery since but he is now a Grade 1 winner and Empire Steel blew him out of the water that day. Connections decided to throw him into the deep end by giving him a shot at Aintree in the 3m Grade 1 Novice Chase and unfortunately it was just a rest too tough at that stage of his career.

He was running against horses 12-20lb better than him but despite the race falling apart, it’s working out quite well form wise this season. Chantry House came out and won a two runner event at Sandown. Shan Blue was going to win the Charlie Hall by a mile. Sporting John made a mockery of his handicap mark over hurdles at Cheltenham and Fiddlerontheroof won the Colin Parker Listed Chase at Carlisle.

Empire Steel remains on a mark of 140 and I believe he’s a better horse than that. He was pulled up in a red hot race at Aintree but that was only his fourth ever run over fences and he’s bound to improve with more experience and another summer on his back. He’s still only 7 and if he can replicate that form that saw him destroy Protektorat then it shouldn’t be long before he’s winning off this mark.