Saturday tips: a 25-1 ante-post selection for the Lanzarote Hurdle

If freezing temperatures were not forecast this week, then there would be a fair chance racing will go ahead as planned at Kempton on Saturday, with most of the standing water now dispersed off the track, according to the BHA website. 

The £100,000 Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle will be the big betting race of the day if the meeting survives and I’m keen to get stuck into the ante-post market. 

Conditionsare bound to be testing and one contender who will relish any give underfoot is Titan Discovery. He’s worth backing each-way at the general 25-1 available. 

He was a rapid improver during his first campaign over hurdles and ended the season 20lb higher than his opening handicap mark following a string of consistent efforts. 

The selection relished soft ground when travelling powerfully en route to a cosy victory at Sandown last year before finishing second in a 0-145 contest over this course and distance behind Boombawn. That form has been franked multiple times since, most notably by Kateira who won a valuable handicap at Aintree on her next start, albeit her outing at Kempton did look a prep run. 

Nevertheless, Titan Discovery improved again to produce another career best there and may have found the ground a shade too quick when a close sixth at Cheltenham on his final start last season. 

The seven-year-old caught the eye on his seasonal return at Chepstow in October where he raced exuberantly and travelled powerfully into contention before fading late on. He will certainly strip fitter for that effort and has been dropped a pound since. 

Trainer Robbie Llewellyn endured a quiet few months in the second half of last year, so it was pleasing see him record a couple of winners in December, and while Titan Discovery’s three-month absence is a small concern, that is factored into his chunky odds. 

With just ten runs under his belt, it would be wise to think this 123-rated hurdler will have more to offer this season, and Liam Harrison is already jocked up, which hints he’s an intended runner. 

He should relish this test and I found chinks in the armour of a few above him in the ante-post betting, so there are enough positives to suggest he's worth an each-way wager.

Coral Lanzarote Hurdle (3.18 Kempton, Saturday): TITAN DISCOVERY (each-way) at a general 25-1.