DOUBLE HANDFUL

THE last two Saturday bets of the day have obliged for this column (7-1 and 4-5) and I’m very hopeful of a hat-trick this afternoon.

It’s not that I think today’s selection is an especially good bet, it’s more that I’m an eternal optimist who has put in an enormous amount of research — from the couch.

Newbury is where it’s happening today and the race I’m interested in is the 2.40 — otherwise known as the ‘Be Wiser Insurance Juvenile Hurdle’.

You’ve got to love a race that has the words, ‘be wiser’ and ‘juvenile,’ in the same sentence.

The 2m2f race contested by four-year-olds looks wide open at first glance.

It’s only when you scrutinse the form of all the individual runners that it becomes crystal clear — absolutely anything could win this race.

Alan King’s Elysees is an interesting horse with two wins over hurdles this season at Ludlow and Warwick. The trainer did mention this race as a target way back in November. The favourite will be in-form Paul Nicholls and his charge FRIEND OR FOE, who was close to making the cut for the Boodles Juvenile Hurdle at the Festival (formerly the Fred Winter).

The son of Walk In The Park looked ultra impressive when winning a 10-runner race at Taunton at the end of last year, so much so that he was mentioned in a few of the Cheltenham Festival Preview evenings I attended. These are the places where a carefully chosen panel of experts with a wealth of knowledge in the game demonstrate they are just as hopeless as us when it comes to picking winners.

Zafar was only one-and-a-quarter lengths runner-up to Friend Or Foe in December and has had the benefit of another two runs since, finishing in the frame on both occasions.

Unfortunately Phillp Hobbs’ horse has not been declared, otherwise I’d be sorely tempted to have a punt on him. Without Zafar, Friend Or Foe looks a good thing.