Saturday tips: Best bets and odds on racing at Kempton and Fairyhouse

It’s another weekend of racing to look forward to and our horse racing correspondent Jonathan Doidge picked out his top bets at Kempton and Fairyhouse and read on for an early look at a Grand National ante-post bet using odds from the best betting sites.

An interesting curtain raiser in prospect, with Hold The Serve the pre-race favourite seeking a hat-trick and after those two previous successes, he’s probably earned that. Fasol arrives in good form and the potential to do better but so too does GRENADIER JED, who looks a more attractive price at 6/1 at the time of writing.

Robert Walford placed the six-year-old well enough to record his own hat-trick of wins over 2m3f last year, all on ground slower than good. After a fall at Plumpton last December, he bounced back with a close second to West To The Bridge, a useful Dan Skelton inmate, at Chepstow last month.

The front pair were 12 lengths clear of the field there and that was very much an improved effort by the selection. I think he represents some each-way value on horse racing betting sites and if he can kick on again going up in trip, he might just prove good enough to win it.

Saturday Tip 1: Grenadier Jed (13.10, Kempton) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 (Bet365)

There’s very little to choose between Precious Man and ONE HORSE TOWN on form and, as big a fan of the Skeltons’ operation as I am, I’m going to take them on here with Harry Derham’s charge, who looks the value bet of the clear top two in the market.

Precious Man is officially rated just 1lb higher than the selection. He’s the less exposed runner of the pair and is improving, all of which is factored into his price for this race. He’s also won over course and distance, last month.

One Horse Town won four off the reel last year, including his C&D success and a Grade 2 Cheltenham win that saw him beat Precious Man by nearly four lengths. He went back there and underperformed in December, before his most recent start in the Triumph Hurdle Trial (Grade 2), which saw him finish two lengths second to Maestro Conti.

As Dan Skelton trains that winner, he’ll have the clearest idea of how he compares to Precious Man and therefore have a line to my selection. Even so, I think Paul O’Brien’s mount is worth a small stakes play.

Saturday Tip 2: One Horse Town (13.45, Kempton) – 1pt win @ 11/4 (William Hill)

Under its various sponsorship guises this has been a big handicap for several decades and although there’s no Desert Orchid around to patronise it (the top rated this year is just 151) it’s still a very big pot to play for.

Last year’s winner KATATE DORI is now 11lb higher than that easy success and he’s been building nicely again this season. He hasn’t won since 12 months ago, having failed to complete in the Ultima at last season’s Cheltenham Festival and then contesting a hurdle, the Coral Gold Cup (sixth behind Panic Attack) and a Cheltenham handicap chase this time around.

That most recent effort, when he was just run out of it up the hill by Herakles Westwood, still reads well in the context of Saturday’s race and it wasn’t far short of last year’s form here. He’s only eight and has only had seven chase starts, so there looks likely to be more to come. It won’t be as easy as last year I’m taking him to repeat the feat.

There are several others with claims as you’d expect and I think an interesting runner is Lookaway. Trained by Neil King, he romped away with a race here over the 2m4f trip last month, when he looked like this trip would be within his compass.

Neil King has wasted no time in giving it a go and if there is a potential big improver in the field, it could be this nine-year-old, after just four chase starts with a solid price available on betting apps.

Saturday Tip 3: Katate Dori (15.35, Kempton) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 (William Hill)

Another interesting runner at a price is VIROFLAY in this handicap chase at around 2m4f. Paul Nicholls trains and daughter Olive takes a useful 5lb of the back of this C&D winner, whose latest success here came over 3m at the Christmas meeting and was an improved effort.

I thought he travelled well that day and I don’t think the drop back to this trip will inconvenience him. He’s a very consistent performer who’s not been out of the first two on his last seven starts and I think he’ll go close again, with good to soft ground fine for him. At 13/2 at the time of writing, he’s another we can back each-way for a bit of insurance.

Saturday Tip 4: Viroflay (16.05, Kempton) – 1pt each-way @ 13/2 (BOYLE Sports)

They’ll probably rename this race after Willie Mullins at some point, so dominant has he been, winning nine of the last ten renewals. It’s a decent prize in its own right but it’s also become a good yardstick by which Grand National potential is measured.

The last two seasons, for example, the winner has gone on to enjoy Aintree success, I Am Maximus taking it on route to glory in 2024 and Nick Rockett also doing so last year. Willie has four of the ten-strong field this time but its worth noting that no winner in that last decade has gone off at odds greater than 6/1.

GRANGECLARE WEST looks very much the pick of the Closutton cohort on his best form. He’d be a whole lot shorter than his current 10/3 if he didn’t have 848 against his name. However, those were all in Grade 1 contests and back in a handicap, I think he’ll be much more at home.

It’s only 12 months since he was within five lengths of his stellar stablemate Galopin Des Champs when second in the 2025 Irish Gold Cup and, of course, he ran a cracker to finish three lengths behind stablemate Nick Rockett in last year’s Aintree marathon.

I’ve already suggested a small stakes play in the National on Jordans, who goes in this Fairyhouse race but won’t get his ground but I’d also suggest backing Grangeclare West for Aintree before the Bobbyjo, as the 25/1 currently on offer for him will tumble if, as I anticipate, he wins this.

Saturday Tip 5: Grangeclare West (15.15, Fairyhouse) 2pts win @ 10/3 (William Hill)

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