It’s the hotly-anticipated return of Cheltenham on Friday afternoon, as day one of the Showcase Meeting takes place at the home of National Hunt racing. Our GG Lucky 15 for Friday 24th October sees us head to Prestbury Park for two selections, while the other two tips run at Doncaster’s quality flat card.
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1.33 Doncaster – SOPHIA’S STARLIGHT (1pt win – 9/1 bet365)
Grant Tuer’s SOPHIA’S STARLIGHT was mightily-impressive when bounding to a comfortable win at Pontefract on Monday afternoon and she will look to make it two wins in a week on Friday, when she takes her place in the opening contest at Doncaster at 1.33pm. She will have the burden of a 5lbs penalty for that success, in what looks a tougher race, but she relished the softer ground that day and could face similar conditions again. She contested the listed Wentworth Stakes at Doncaster earlier in her career, where she finished fourth, so she performed to a pretty high level, and at near double-figured odds she is certainly worth taking a chance on.
1.50 Cheltenham – KING OF KINGSFIELD (1pt win – 11/4 William Hill)
Path D’Oroux claimed victory in this race 12 months ago for Ireland, and another could venture over from the Emerald Isle on Friday and land the 1.50pm at Cheltenham, with Gordon Elliott’s KING OF KINGSFIELD set to sweep his rivals aside here. A multiple winner over hurdles and fences and a horse that chased home Brighterdaysahead at Down Royal last November, the Cullentra House inmate was a taking winner at Punchestown in Grade 3 company a couple of weeks ago. That was his third win in four over fences, and he heads to Cheltenham in fine fettle. The likes of Country Mile and Alnilam look progressive performers and warrant respect, but he could just prove to be a cut above those rivals here, and he can hand Elliott more Prestbury Park success.
4.28 Doncaster – BALDOMERO (1pt win – 10/1 bet365)
Desperately out of form in recent outings, Mick Appleby’s BALDOMERO has been plummeting in the handicap and a recent 2lbs drop by the handicapper means he takes his chance off 84 in a wide open renewal at Doncaster at 4.28pm. Whilst his dropping mark gives him an obvious chance on old form it’s his return to Doncaster that is the most positive thing. His last two wins have come on Town Moor, with his last win coming off a mark of 86 back in June. That was a class 3 handicap and Friday’s assignment is a class 4, so there’s plenty of reasons why he can run a huge race at decent odds here.
4.45 Cheltenham – BEAUFORT SCALE (1pt win – 14/1 bet365)
A decent three-miler hurdler for Gordon Elliott, BEAUFORT SCALE has struggled since switching to fences, but has been running over an inadequate trip of 2m 4f on his last two outings at Kilbeggan and Gowran Park. Tackling 3m 1f for the first time in Cheltenham’s final race at 4.45pm, the Irish raider could be a lively contender off a mark of 122. He is still very lightly-raced over fences, having only tackled the larger obstacles four times, but he slips in here off a potentially attractive mark, and he could be one that storms up the hill to go very close in a cracking finale.
GG Racing Lucky 15 Tips For Friday 24th October