Who To Follow This Weekend At Haydock And Ascot

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.

Nigel Twiston-Davies has had a stellar season to date and has really nice runners with big chances across the weekend and we have picked out two that catch the eye.

The obvious one is Bristol De Mai in the Betfair Chase with the seven year old being a dual consecutive winner of the race looking to make it three in a row with this race.

He also has Ballyoptic who is looking for his hat-trick in this contest after winning in a Class 2 Handicap Chase on his seasonal debut and then landing the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase next time out.

At Ascot he also has some nice runners and in the first race of the day he has Redford Road and the five year old although being top weight in this Class 2 race has been superb this season with two runs and two wins and should progress again for his runs already this year.

He finished second in a bumper on his only start last term but has took to life over hurdles like a pro landing two nice events at Warwick and Wetherby which gives him a leading form chance in this contest.

Harry Cobden is up there with some of the best jumps riders in the sport and it is a huge day for him at Ascot on Saturday and although we don't fancy him for the big race against Altior he still has some nice chances on the day.

Cyrname is obviously his big ride of the day but in the second event of the afternoon he is on board Highest Sun for Colin Tizzard.

The five year old was a smart hurdler last season winning some nice events and started the season again over the smaller flights with a decent third behind two nice horses.

He stepped up for his chase debut at Newbury and again put in a confident run finishing a strong third behind the superstar Champ and looks like he will take all the beating if jumping well again.

In the final race of the day the bumper contest he sits on Bravemansgame for Paul Nicholls who looks an exciting prospect for the yard.

The gelding ran back in March over in Ireland at Lingstown in a point to point and hosed up by seven lengths beating a field of 11 runners, immediately taking to the sport in the three mile event.

From there he was bought for £370,000 at the Cheltenham sales at the festival and was given to 11 time champion trainer Paul Nicholls.