Barry Geraghty riding for Fergal O’Brien for the first time is one of those bookings that racing folk describe as ‘interesting’. A personal view would be ‘absolutely riveting’ and it is one of several pointers to the chance of Viva Steve (3.35) in Kempton’s BetBright Chase, formerly known as the Racing Post.
O’Brien is a trainer to follow in what has been his best season yet, by number of winners and also by strike-rate. He has improved horses from other yards, returned a level-stakes profit in handicaps and might be able to turn Viva Steve’s long-standing potential into an actual big-race success.
Viva Steve ran well to the fourth-last in this race last year, when with Mick Channon, but faded to sixth. The fitting of a tongue tie helped him to a debut success for O’Brien at Ayr but he found the conditions of Warwick’s Classic Chase rather too testing next time. This sounder surface and shorter trip, together with the excellent Geraghty, may get him back to the winner’s enclosure.
He would normally be partnered by Paddy Brennan, who has understandably opted to ride last year’s winner, Theatre Guide, carrying the Cue Card colours of Jean Bishop. Now a stone higher in the weights, Theatre Guide does not tempt. There might be each-way value in Cocktails At Dawn, though his main target is said to be the Grand National.
Saturday’s other TV racing tips
1.50 Kempton Drying ground provides Charli Parcs with the ideal conditions to advertise his Triumph Hurdle claims. Enough is known about his rivals to be fairly confident he will prove too quick for them if on song.
2.05 Lingfield Unlucky in running last time, Pretend may recover the winning habit with Adam Kirby back in the saddle.
2.25 Kempton Paul Nicholls’ Frodon can follow Charli Parcs as an odds-on winner on this card. Charmix has talent but would prefer some cut and risks being outpaced.
2.45 Newcastle There is 25-1 about Emperor’s Choice because of his recent habit of getting pulled up but Venetia Williams’s yard is in fine form and first-time blinkers could make a difference. He has come back down to his last winning mark and has as much hope as any runner of coping with the expected desperate conditions, being a Welsh National winner.
3.00 Kempton There is not much between the top five in the betting here and perhaps the outsider of those, Peter The Mayo Man, can outrun odds of 7-1. He bumped into a useful rival in Lough Derg Spirit last time but was giving that one weight and is otherwise unbeaten since March. This sort of surface is fine for him and he represents the upwardly mobile trainer Neil Mulholland.
3.15 Lingfield A classy horse like Mutakayyef, third in the Juddmonte, is quite a catch for the Winter Derby. He may just need this seasonal return but still looks the right choice at these weights.
Chepstow
1.55 Forza Milan 2.30 Rock The Kasbah 3.05 Yorgonnahearmeroar 3.40 Abbreviate (nb) 4.15 Sew On Target 4.50 Deise Vu 5.20 Crucial Role
Kempton
1.15 Argante 1.50 Charli Parcs 2.25 Frodon 3.00 Peter The Mayo Man 3.35 Viva Steve 4.10 Full Shift 4.45 Irish Prophecy
Lingfield
1.30 Hajaam 2.05 Pretend 2.40 Chester Street 3.15 Mutakayyef 3.50 Rag Tatter 4.25 Rydan 5.00 Etaad (nap)
Newcastle
1.35 Imperial Bay 2.10 Meadowcroft Boy 2.45 Emperor’s Choice 3.20 Zamdy Man 3.55 The Nipper 4.30 Special Wells 5.05 Carlos De Fruitier
Wolverhampton
5.45 Invincible Ridge 6.15 Hannington 6.45 Specialist 7.15 Blitz 7.45 Cyrus Dallin 8.15 Gabrial The Thug 8.45 Murdanova
