Saturday racing tips: Best bets and previews for Doncaster & Cheltenham

Punters may get a few Cheltenham Festival and Epsom Derby hints from Saturday’s racing, and I’ve picked out five to follow on betting sites on another busy afternoon.

The National Hunt season might be about to get into full swing but there are still some big races to come on the Flat and this Group 1 contest is always a pointer for next season’s middle distance Classics, such as the Derby.

This year looks likely to be no exception, with several runners in the field already holding entries for big races next year. Aidan O’Brien has trained the winner of this four times in the past decade and he has a better than average chance of doing so again, as he saddles half of the six runner field.

On what they’ve achieved, there is little to choose between the favourite Benvenuto Cellini, Hawk Mountain and Action and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of that trio take the prize back to Ballydoyle again.

We know less about ITEM, who represents another trainer to have sent out a winner of this recently, in Andrew Balding. His achievements in two starts, which have both been wins, have not troubled anything else in this field on official ratings.

Despite that, he’s learning fast and his jockey Rob Hornby got off him after last month’s Bath success and told Sky Sports Racing that he thought this track would be ideal and hinted at this race for him.

It’s only a six runner field, so we’re playing for two places each-way but if his trainer is entering him here, we should take that seriously. He could well outperform his price on horse racing betting sites and go very close. A small each-way play is suggested.

Saturday racing tip 1: Item (Doncaster, 14.05) – 0.5pts each-way @ 17/2 (Ladbrokes)

A field of 14 has been declared for this £25,000 handicap over the straight mile. Conditions are bottomless at Doncaster, which can so often throw up muddling results and this, too, could be the case here.

Cases can be made for several at shorter odds on betting apps than LOOK BACK SMILING but not many of them are proven on heavy going. Gemme Tutty’s five-year-old loves to get his hooves in and he’s been dropped to a mark some way below those from which his last two wins came.

He arrives after a respectable effort at Newcastle last time, he’s won over C&D and it won’t take many of them to misfire for him to come into the reckoning. Admittedly, the stable has been going through a fairly quiet spell but that’s factored into the price and 14/1 could look a lot bigger come four o’clock on Saturday. Again, he’s a small each-way suggestion.

Saturday racing tip 2: Look Back Smiling (Doncaster, 15.50) – 0.5pts each-way @ 14/1 (William Hill)

It’s great to be back poring over the jumps form and we’ll have plenty of races ahead of us just like this one as the winter unfolds.

At the time of writing, horse racing betting apps go 6/1 the field and the one that interests me most is INOX ALLEN, who makes the lengthy trip south from the yard of Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore.

The seven-year-old’s record is a little patchy and, given that he has previously had wind surgery, that’s probably why. However, when he is right, he certainly goes well when fresh and the application of a visor to accompany the tongue-tie he’s been wearing certainly paid dividends at Perth back in the spring when he made all and won easily.

Trip and ground look to be ideal for him and, returning from a break and with the visor retained, he looks to have the potential to continue to improve over fences, having had just two starts. With the stable’s runners in good form, he looks worth siding with to go close.

Saturday racing tip 3: Inox Allen (Cheltenham, 13.10) – 0.5pts each-way @ 11/1 (BetGoodwin)

It’s great to see a £100,000 pot this early in the season and this looks made for another big autumn Cheltenham effort by HYLAND.

He probably won’t want any significant rain but if the ground stays good to soft or better, he should be bang there at the business end again. He jumps superbly, which is of course a major asset around here, while he’s also won over C&D and all three of his course wins have come at around this time of year, including at this meeting for the past two seasons.

He's yet to win from a mark quite as high as this, which tempers enthusiasm slightly for a win bet, but it’s easy to see him finishing in the first three, and he has the potential to win again as he has a good record when fresh.

Saturday racing tip 4: Hyland (Cheltenham, 14.20) – 0.5pts each-way @ 15/2 (William Hill)

As the market suggests, there’s an open look to this staying hurdle, with top yards from both sides of the Irish Sea represented. I like the look of the Gordon Elliott-trained WINNING SMUT, who had Chart Topper behind him in third when winning a big field Listed Galway hurdle in August (2m6½f, good).

Always prominent that day, he travelled well and had the ability to get through on the inside under a super ride by Jack Kennedy. He certainly appeared to have a fair bit more under the bonnet there and this slightly longer trip offers the possibility of further improvement. He’ll be fine on this ground and I’d fully expect him to feature heavily as they climb the hill.

Saturday racing tip 5: Winning Smut (Cheltenham, 14.55) – 0.5pts each-way @ 13/2 (bet365)

Each Saturday, Virgin Bet run a money-back offer relating to one of the races being shown on ITV Racing that day. This week, that race is the opening race at Cheltenham at 13.10.

I’ve highlighted Inox Allen as one to follow in that race and if you were to back the seven-year-old on Virgin Bet in that race and it didn’t win, you’d receive your stake back in free bets.

There’s no need to opt in to the offer, just place a wager on the race and if your selection fails to win, you’ll receive a free bet refund, up to a maximum of £10.

Only the win part of any each-way bets will be credited back to Virgin Bet punters.

If you’re having a bet on Saturday’s racing, it’s vital to gamble responsibly.

Betting can be addictive, and it’s important to stay in control of your gambling, whether you’re using the best betting sites, casino sites, slot sites, bingo sites or any other gambling platform.

Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.

Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control.

Try not to get carried away by free bets or casino bonuses, which are widely available on gambling apps.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.