Newbury Tip: Chance Du Roy

With just over a week to go until Cheltenham we can still squeeze in one decent weekend of National Hunt racing. The 3.00 at Newbury – the Greatwood Gold Cup is the feature race on Saturday.

Paul Nicholls has won the last three renewals but his charges will have to carry 11-12 if they are to be victorious again. The statistics are against them, no horse in the last ten years has carried more than 11-5 to victory. As always in a valuable chase handicap there are some well handicapped types lurking in the shadows.

Chance Du Roy fits the bill. This will be only his seventh chasing start but he already looks to have a bright future, having won three races. His two defeats came round the sharp tracks of Warwick and Folkestone; the tracks patently didn’t suit him.

Much better was his win at Chepstow in early January. He is a strong traveller, which is ideal for a big galloping handicap at Newbury where you need to conserve your energy. His jumping can be a bit scratchy but he is improving all the time as his experience grows.

William Hill have priced up the race early and I recommend taking the 14/1. William Hill have best odds guaranteed on all their racing, which means if the SP is bigger than the price we take (14/1) we get paid out at the bigger price.