Saturday Racing Tips at Kelso and Cheltenham | Jake Price

There are plenty of nice betting heats at Cheltenham to get stuck into later in this piece, but the card is too competitive to nail down a NAP. Moving up North into calmer waters at Kelso however, Flash Du Pistolet should take a bit of beating on his Chase debut.

This six-year-old ran five times in P2P races before joining Stuart Coltherd last season, where he made his debut on this Kelso card 12 months ago in the Maiden Hurdle and was only headed in the final strides by Coniston George (116). Connections ambitiously ran him in the Grade Two Newton Novices’ Hurdle at Haydock next when well held in fourth, but after bombing out at Ayr in December he now finds himself only rated 100 for his Chase debut. If he jumps fences well, he can surely score for a yard in good form (6P1112F0).

This is a competitive Novice Handicap Chase, but it looks winnable – and if Joe Tizzard is happy for him to take his chance on the ground, then Lord Of Thunder looks the most exciting of these to my eye.

His P2P second to Mt Fugi Park came on good ground at Belharbour, and following a decent Bumper run he was held in high enough regard to start over hurdles in the Grade Two Persian War – but that didn’t go to plan. He’s since developed drastically in much more traditional Novice races, finishing second at Wincanton before then bolting up twice at that same venue in December and January. He looks a Chaser all over and could be hard to beat if taking to fences.

Often it is intentions which win you a Pertemps Qualifier, and I’m sure the majority of the Irish horses will be looking for a top four finish in order to qualify for the Final in March. That’s certainly the case for current favourite The Wallpark, and as such I want to take him on with Supreme Gift.

Trainer Henry Daly won this race in 2020 with a similar type in Honest Vic, and as such I think connections will be thrilled to pick up this £30,000 prize! In two runs at Cheltenham to date he has finished fourth (only beaten 2L) at the 2023 April meeting and most recently he was third in April behind Zain Nights (130) – a Horse who he will now be 10lbs better off with at the weights despite only being beaten 3L. Harry Cobden makes for a very eye-catching jockey booking.