Saturday racing tips from Newsboy for ITV cards from Sandown, Haydock and Leicester. Champion trainer Dan Skelton bids to round off a tremendous season with Thistle Ask in the bet365 Celebration Chase, and Newsboy thinks the transformed thoroughbred will get the job done.
Ask Brewster to Shine in bet365 Gold Cup
ASK BREWSTER has the answers in the bet365 Gold Cup (3.30) at Sandown Park on Saturday. To say Cath Williams’ seven-year-old is on a roll as the National Hunt season draws to a close is an understatement. Having suffered four defeats on the back of a chase-debut score at Ludlow in October 2024, Ask Brewster has now won four of his last five starts. My selection signed off the 2024-25 campaign with success at Chepstow and Cheltenham and made a winning comeback at the former track in October. The bid for a four-timer came up short in the London National at Sandown in December but Ask Brewster roared back to form with a gritty neck margin under Shane Cotter in Cheltenham’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.
A 7lb rise in the weights was to be expected and, with Cotter again claiming a 7lb allowance, Ask Brewster, pulled out of the Scottish Grand National on account of Ayr’s rain-softened terrain, has the perfect conditions to go in again.
Thistle Ask to Deny Jonbon in Celebration Chase
THISTLE ASK is fancied to deny fans’ favourite Jonbon a third success in the bet365 Celebration Chase (2.55). To land the Grade 1 prize, which Jonbon won in 2023 and 2024 before a second-place finish to Il Etait Temps last April, Thistle Ask must turn round a three-length defeat at the hands of his rival in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot 14 weeks ago. Rejuvenated in the hands of Dan Skelton with scores in valuable handicap chases on his first four starts of the campaign, the nine-year-old made the running under the trainer’s brother Harry before being collared at the final fence. The ground at the King’s racecourse was soft that day, however, and spring terrain will aid Thistle Ask’s bid for revenge. My selection had a busy schedule during the first half of the campaign - he completed a 13-day hat-trick from October 25 before capturing Kempton Park’s Desert Orchid Handicap Chase over Christmas - but comes to the races today a fresh horse.
Blow Your Wad for Oaksey Chase
The Grade 2 bet365 Oaksey Chase (2.20) affords the perfect opportunity for BLOW YOUR WAD to make his mark outside the handicap sphere. Having marked his debut for Gary and Josh Moore with a third to Jonbon in the top-level Ascot Chase in February, the eight-year-old ran the Skeltons’ Heltenham to half a length in a handicap chase at Newbury a fortnight later. There was much to like about his fourth to Grand National fourth Johnnywho in Cheltenham’s Ultima Handicap Chase in March, and Blow Your Wad duly went two places better under Freddie Mitchell at Chepstow next time. His British Horseracing Authority rating of 151 tells us he’s the best horse in the race - and Blow Your Wad can prove exactly that.
The end of the 2025-26 National Hunt season means the official split between Harry Cobden and Paul Nicholls is only hours away - but the pair could enjoy one last big victory, courtesy of MINELLA YOGA in the bet365 Novices' Championship Final Handicap Hurdle (1.45).
Other Selections
At Haydock Park, CABURN has plenty going for him in the William Hill Epic Boosts Handicap (2.35) after an excellent third to Aramram in the Listed Cammidge Trophy on Doncaster’s Lincoln Handicap undercard four Saturdays ago. Leicester makes a welcome appearance before the ITV cameras, and PRINCE OF INDIA is primed to go well in the Caffreys Black Stout King Richard III Cup Handicap (2.05).
