Saturday tips: four best bets from Dave Nevison

A glance at the BBC weather forecast for Market Rasen Racecourse on Saturday suggests that, after the heavens open at around 9am, it may well rain throughout the day.

Even if it isn’t quite biblical, it seems very likely conditions will ease the ground.

Most summer jumpers are campaigned at this time to avoid such conditions, but Goblet Of Fire has recorded two wins on soft going and might well be better suited than many of his rivals.

Nicky Henderson’s charge has run very well on both his starts this season winning at Hereford and then running an excellent third in the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock, showing he is well equipped to handle a big field competitive handicap. 

Luttrell Lad won this same contest in 2023 under Izzie Hill, so it is pretty clear he has been aimed at the race once more.

Conditions were horrible and the ground was heavy for that win, and even though things are currently described as good, the weather suggests it might end up being pretty similar by Saturday afternoon.

Tom Lacey has his string in excellent form currently and Luttrell Lad is running off a mark a pound lower than when he won in 2023 despite having won a race since then, so he could be well enough handicapped to pull off another victory.

Not for the first time, booking Harry Cobden for this race takes the eye and the jockey might well be able to complete a hat trick in this summer jumping highlight.

Gavin Cromwell has given this horse a stop-start introduction to chasing, possibly with a view to preserving his handicap mark.

It is unusual to make a handicap debut in such a competitive event, but given his record, it is pretty difficult to question Cromwell’s placing of his runners.

Softening of the ground will suit him very well and as a six-year-old, Ballysax Hank has plenty of potential upside compared to his rivals. 

Hopefully the old adage that states “bigger the field, bigger the certainty” holds true in this traditional sales race, which is a straightforward point and go sprint.

The huge field is composed of an equally huge range of ability and, with several of the runners already having reached peak form and unlikely to improve. there are few real contenders.

Havana Hurricane won the Windsor Castle in really good style last time and that form makes him an odds-on chance in this race by my calculation, and even though odds will be cramped, Eve Johnson Houghton’s cheaply bought sprinter looks worth a bet.