ITV Racing Haydock And Ascot Preview

The Betfair Exchange Handicap Hurdle is a decent Class 2 event and Bold Plan for Evan Williams looks lovely at an each way price.

The five year old gelding gets the eye-catching booking of Robbie Power who is currently in some superb form and although this runner was poor on his seasonal debut he should come on for that run.

Last season Bold Plan was ultra consistent having four runs and not finishing outside of the top three on all of his runs getting off the mark in soft conditions at Taunton.

This race looks easier than his seasonal return and should revel in the conditions.

The feature race of the Ascot card is the Grade Two Christy 1965 Chase over 2 miles 5 furlongs and the mighty Altior makes his seasonal reappearance to the track.

Altior as many will know holds the record for the most consecutive amount of wins of 19 races over hurdles and fences and he has never been beaten by even one rival which makes put him in the bracket as one of the sports greats.

Henderson's stable star has ran over 2 miles and slightly further in his career staying very consistent and not being able to be passed by anyone.

However, this season it looks as if he will be tackling a new demographic and stepping up in trip to battle it out over 3 miles and maybe further.

With this in mind he goes over this trip for the first time and if handling it should trounce the field like he normally does but there is a slight if.

The Grade Three Stayers Handicap Hurdle over three miles shows an exciting big field of runners and that gives us two selections for the event.

The first is the Jonjo O'Neill trained Tedham who ran to a fair standard last season and finished a decent sixth at Cheltenham last time out that should improve him massively for fitness.

The other horse we like in this contest at a bigger price is Flash The Steel for Dan Skelton and this seven year old made a good reappearance at Chepstow winning nicely and although stepping up in trip needs to be taken seriously.

Another superb contest on the Ascot card is the Grade Two Coral Hurdle which sees some exciting hurdlers take to the stage and Roksana for Dan Skelton should go well.

This mare was ultra consistent last season getting better with every run and eventually, although getting some luck, landed the Grade One Mares Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival.

The seven year old looks to have stayed over hurdles for the season and off the back of that Cheltenham win and her second in the Grade One Stayers Hurdle at Aintree she is the one to beat having already had a run to blow the cobwebs away.

The Betfair Chase is the feature race of the day at Haydock and the first Grade One of the season in Britain and we fancy the grey that loves this contest.

Bristol De Mai for Nigel Twiston-Davies is a dual consecutive winner of the race looking to make it three in a row with this race being like a home tie for him.

Horses in the past that have gone on to complete the hat-trick in the race include the mighty Cue Card between 2013 and 2016 and before that the super Kauto Star landed the contest four times between 2006 and 2011 and he could put his name amongst these greats on Saturday.

Bristol De Mai as usual had a great start to the season last year but in the middle part was below his best, however he salvaged his season with a superb run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup finishing a narrow third behind winner Al Boum Photo.

His last run of the season was again below par not running well in the Betway Bowl at the Grand National meeting and his trainer this season is hoping he can stay at his best consistently throughout the season.

Big chance.

The final runner of the day for us in Berkshire is the Gary Moore trained Knocknanuss in the Class 2 Handicap Chase looks like a nice each way bet.

The nine year old has been fairly consistent throughout his career in races similar to this but recently has been strong going from the front.

He should be much better for his third on his seasonal bow at at Cheltenham last time out and the softening ground will play to his strengths.

The final runner of the meeting at Haydock on Saturday is Know The Score for trainer David Pipe in the 3 mile 4 furlong Stayers Handicap Chase.

The six year old was superb last season over hurdles racing five times and not coming out of the top three on all of his outings, gradually stepping up in trip in each one.

He made his chase debut last month at Worcester going just under three miles but he stayed on and jumped really well to suggest that he will go well again at this trip.