Saturday’s Horse Racing Tips: Can Tom Collins strike again this week at Cheltenham?

Spirit D’Aunou and Lion’s House provided this column with a nice winning double last Saturday, especially if you got the morning prices, and I’m hopeful of another tasty return seven days on. 

Cheltenham’s Christmas meeting graces our televisions this week and my two best bets come at the venue on Saturday. I also have a pretty strong all-weather selection for the flat racing fiends (like myself) out there - it would have been folly not to tip at the West Midlands venue given I will be covering the action there on Sky Sports Racing!

Let’s start with Cheltenham and the John Wyke Memorial Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase (12.40), which sees seven lightly raced chasers face off against one another on soft ground.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls have declared Wiseguy and Mofasa respectively, and that pair will surely attract a lot of support given their connections and unexposed profiles. The former jumped well at Exeter 26 days ago but has never raced on this kind of ground, while the latter is potentially the biggest threat to my selection after proving his stamina in a victory last month.

However, I’m adamant that the best handicapped horse in the race is the Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Weveallbeencaught, who cost a cool £210,000 from the Cheltenham Tattersalls Sales in January 2022 and was said to be a future Gold Cup horse by his trainer after winning on rules debut. He actually compared him to Imperial Commander, which might have been a bit of a mistake.

Weveallbeencaught hasn’t developed as expected but he has still run creditably in a selection of competitive races, including when seventh in the Albert Bartlett in March and second on his recent chase start in a Listed contest. He gets a little low at some fences and isn’t the sharpest when trying to pop one, but he finds a way to negotiate his way from one side to the other and that’s what matters.

Saturday’s contest marks his first ever start in handicap company and a mark of 135 surely underestimates this horse’s ability. Add that to the fact that Twiston-Davies has booked crack Irish conditional Michael O’Sullivan, who won this year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Marine Nationale and claims an important 3lb, and there are quite a few reasons why this horse rates a strong selection.

I will be having a similarly sized wager on Bonttay in the 2m4½f mares’ handicap hurdle (3.35) later on the Cheltenham card. The first point to note is that this mare has been aimed at the race by local trainer Fergal O’Brien, who has had plenty of success at this meeting in recent years.

Bonttay has won two of her three starts at Cheltenham and has never finished outside of the top two places in nine career outings across the UK. Saying she’s consistent doesn’t really do her justice. 

She came back from a 226-day layoff to justify favouritism at Hereford last month and there’s a good chance O’Brien left a lot to work with on that occasion. Given she’s going to strip fitter and is returning to a track she prefers, Bonttay is fancied to add another victory to her ever-growing tally.

Some may use the going description (soft) as a potential negative given most of her form has come on faster ground, but I actually believe the mud will see her in even better light. 

Finally, it’s off to Wolverhampton for an evening wager on the Kevin Philippart De Foy-trained Connected, who will look to bounce back from a couple of luckless efforts when he lines up in the 1m½f 0-65 handicap (8.30) that ends the card. 

This three-year-old bolted up on handicap debut at this venue in September, before being ridden inefficiently when finishing sixth in his follow-up bid off 5lb higher. He also had a plausible excuse when last seen as he was ridden extremely cold in a race that was dominated by forward-going types.

Connected still wasn’t beaten far in fourth despite being in a poor position turning in, and the handicapper has decided to leniently drop him 1lb for good measure. Drawn well in stall three with young talent Benoit de la Sayette in the saddle, I expect him to get back into the winner’s enclosure.

Saturday’s Horse Racing Tips

Weveallbeencaught (12.40 Cheltenham) @ 7/2
Bonttay (3.35 Cheltenham) @ 10/3
Connected (8.30 Wolverhampton) @ 17/5