Haydock Saturday Preview - 23/01/21

Haydock's ground staff have done a superb job off getting this meeting on and the first race of the day is the Grade Two Novices' Chase and there is no looking past the favourite.

Allart for Nicky Henderson is a seven year old on the upgrade having been a superb horse over hurdles, but now looks a different animal all together over fences.

The gelding is lightly raced for his age and last season had four starts over hurdles, having fallen on his debut he quickly put that right by landing his next two events in good style.

He was then sent to the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival and ran a cracker to finish fifth behind some likeable Grade One types.

The yard have always though a lot of this horse and this season sent him chasing, giving him his debut in the Grade Two Noel Novices' Chase at Ascot and he was an emphatic winner, seeing off Fiddlerontheroof.

The further he went the better he became over his obstacles and this event looks a routine stepping stone on his way to the Cheltenham festival.

Another Grade Two event follows and this time it sees the Sky Bet Supreme Novices' Hurdle Trial over two miles and this race in the past has been won by some smart horses.

Our selection is the Tom Symonds trained Llandinabo Lad who will handle the heavy ground and on form looks the pick of the bunch and should be good enough to give away weight to the field.

The six year old this term has been in fine form beating market rival Minella Drama on seasonal debut by close to six lengths and then next time out backed that up with another good win over course and distance at Haydock in a Listed event.

He was given a penalty for that run and nearly defied it in the Supreme Trial at Ascot last time out, when narrowly bet into second by the smart My Drogo for Dan Skelton.

The gelding offers the leading form in the line up and although having a penalty looks the one to beat.

With no bet in the 2:05, we move onto the Grade Two Peter Marsh Handicap Chase over a staying trip and it sees a field of proven stayers take to post.

For a race like this you need a horse that can handle a slog in heavy ground and the Anthony Honeyball trained Sam Brown fits that criteria.

The nine year old will be getting 9lb off the favourite Royal Pagaille, with handy 5lb claimer Ben Godfrey helping to take some weight off.

The gelding has only been seen once this season and it came at Carlisle over 2m4f and he finished a good third behind leading Ryanair Chase contender Imperial Aura.

Sam Brown loves racing around Haydock, winning a Novices' Chase at this meeting last term and with the favourite given a 16lb hike for his last win and unproven in heavy, our selection looks the value in the race at 4/1

The Grade Two Unibet The New One Hurdle over to miles sees the return of the superstar Buveur D'Air for Nicky Henderson.

Buveur D'Air landed back to back Grade Ones at the Cheltenham festival in 2017 and 2018 but after that did not have his most convincing season results wise.

Back in 2018 he started his season off in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, as he did the season before putting in his best performance of the season when seeing off superstar Samcro like he was not there.

He then suffered a shock defeat to stablemate Verdana Blue in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day before getting back on track at Sandown in the Listed Contenders Hurdle.

His hat-trick bid in the Champion Hurdle loomed and if it wasn't for suffering his first fall of his career many think he would have picked up the pieces and landed the race that ultimately fell apart.

He headed to Aintree stepping up in trip and could only manage a narrow second to Supasundae but finished his season off in superb style showing that he still holds star ability when taking the Grade One Champion Hurdle at the Punchestown festival and reversing the form with Jessica Harrington's gelding.

Back for his seasonal debut in November 2019 he was odds on to land a third consecutive Fighting Fifth when being chinned by Cornerstone Lad on the line.

It was revealed after the race he had suffered a nasty injury when clattering one of the flights at the northern track and has not been seen since.

Having been off the track for a lengthy period of time he returns in this event and it looks only a question of fitness and how good he still is after his sever injury that nearly finished his career all together.

Getting 6lb from Ballyandy and 3lb from Navajo Pass looks extremely generous and should capitalise on that.

The penultimate event of the afternoon on Merseyside is the two mile Handicap Chase and the horse that takes the eye for us at a nice price is Zuckerburg for Jennie Candlish.

The five year old looks one of the more likely runners to get into the frame in this event moving back over fences in conditions he handles.

He has ran over hurdles twice in Britain this season, being pulled on seasonal debut, but finishing a fair fourth at Catterick last time out, which was a much better run.

He is weighted to be a real player being on a handicap mark of 120 and if taking to the bigger obstacles is worth keeping on side.

The final runner of the day comes in the Class 4 Handicap Hurdle over two miles and Nefyn Point for the inform Donald McCain is an interesting runner.

The seven year old has been a fairly consistent hurdler during his career and on his two starts to date has shown signs that he is due a big run.

Having blew the cobwebs away at Carlisle in October, he returned over the same course and distance last time out and finished a good second of 11.

He enters this race of the same mark of 102 and with 10lb claimer Peter Kavanagh taking even more weight off he could be a big player in heavy conditions.