Haydock races<\/a> for Bravemansgame in the Betfair Chase. Pic D’Orhy can give weight and a beating to four rivals over a course and distance he loves.<\/p>\nThere is little to scare Nicholls’ runner in truth now with veteran\u00a0Dashel Drasher\u00a0<\/strong>another previous Ascot Chase winner now rising 12. Gary & Josh Moore’s\u00a0Le Patron\u00a0<\/strong>looks a bigger danger in his second season over fences. He comes with risks attached as he didn’t always jump fluently last term, but the six-year-old is only one open to further progress.<\/p>\nSkelton inmate\u00a0Flegmatik\u00a0<\/strong>and Neil Mulholland’s\u00a0Hidden Depths\u00a0<\/strong>both fall some way short of Grade 2 standard on ratings. They are contemporaries of Pic D’Orhy, both aged nine, be need career bests to avoid a battle for the wooden spoon here.<\/p>\n2:05 – 3m 5f 94y Class 2 Berkshire National (0-150)<\/h3>\n
This brand new staying handicap chase on Ascot November Racing Weekend is a puzzle. The suggestion is course winner\u00a0FORTESCUE<\/strong>, who could be well-treated on back form for Henry Daly and 3lb claimer Hugh Nugent. Now a 10-year-old, he wasn’t disgraced when chasing home a race-fit rival in a veterans’ race around Aintree on reappearance.<\/p>\nFortescue has also been dropped 2lb by the assessor to an attractive mark of 133, 10lb lower than when successful in the Swinley Chase here in 2022. Cobden rides\u00a0Kitty’s Light<\/strong>, but Christian Williams is surely thinking of another tilt at the Grand National in the spring. Topweight Beauport\u00a0<\/strong>stays further and has an amateur claiming 7lb off his back.<\/p>\nSlipway\u00a0<\/strong>ran well from 4lb out of the weights when fifth in a Cheltenham Cross Country event last week. Pauling’s runner is back on his proper rating, just 3lb higher than when last successful. Down the bottom of the handicap,\u00a0Art Decco\u00a0<\/strong>ended last term on a high with three wins and could have more to offer in these long-distance races.<\/p>\n2:45 – 2m 3f 58y Grade 2 Ascot Hurdle<\/h3>\n
Off 10lb better terms from their Taunton encounter,\u00a0LUCKY PLACE <\/strong>could end up reversing form with Jeremy Scott mare\u00a0Golden Ace<\/strong> here. Although the lowest rated in the line-up off 140, Henderson has four previous wins in the race. Lucky Place also stays further after hitting the frame in the Coral Cup in the spring.<\/p>\nLast year’s winner\u00a0Blueking D’Oroux\u00a0<\/strong>gives weight all-round but goes well fresh, so he’s a contender for a successful defence of his crown.\u00a0Salver <\/strong>now takes on his elders for the first time and the Triumph Hurdle third may struggle as a four-year-old in open company.<\/p>\nThunder Rock\u00a0<\/strong>may be using this reappearance as a pipe-opener for going back over fences. Irish raider Colonel Mustard\u00a0<\/strong>is a difficult horse to win with, meanwhile, leaving Lucky Place as a value bet against the field in the co-feature of the Ascot November Racing Weekend.<\/p>\n3:20 – 2m 167y Class 2 Hurst Park Handicap Chase<\/h3>\n