Saturday's free feature is the Trainer/Jockey Combo (TJC) report, which works by bringing together the form of trainers and jockeys into a single composite report that has produced excellent results for users. Basically, some trainers turn to specific riders when they have one ‘ready to win’ and this report quickly identifies the most profitable of those combinations. Clicking on any row will reveal the entries for that trainer/jockey pairing whilst clicking on the entry will open the race in a new tab.
HINT: Look for a good sample size – ideally five or more – combined with a decent win percentage (30%+), and a positive figure in the profit column and as ever, please refer to our User Guide for further information.
My own settings for the TJC Report look like this...
...and they have generated qualifiers solely on the 5-year course form filter as follows...
...for me to consider in addition to our selection of daily 'free' races...
- 1.35 Fairyhouse
- 1.57 Chepstow
- 2.05 Lingfield
- 3.07 Chepstow
- 5.10 Chelmsford
- 5.20 Kempton
Jockey Stan Sheppard has a good record on Tom Lacey's horses at Chepstow and they team up in just one handicap on Saturday, a race that also happens to be on the free list. Now, it's a bigger field than I'm generally comfortable with (12 is my usual limit), but let's see how Operation Manna might get on in the 3.07 Chepstow and whether there's also an E/W bet or two to be had from this 15-runner, Class 2, 5yo+ handicap hurdle. The trip should be just over 2m7½f, but a 200 yard rail movement has extended it to 3m½f on good to soft ground that is quicker in places and is being watered to stop it turning "good"...
FORM : Ballybegg, Kings Keeper, Top of the Bill and The Kniphand all won last time out. Operation Manna is three from five and Kings Keeper/Top of the Bill/Take Your Time/The Kniphand are all two from five with the latter on a hat-trick. Surrey Quest/Bells of Peterboro/My Bobby Dazzler/Thanksforthehelp are all winless in five. LTO winner Ballybegg has failed to complete three of five and Southfield Harvest/Take Your Time have two incomplete runs.
CLASS : Bells of Peterboro is down one and Bear Ghylls, Ballybegg, Southfield Harvest, Kings Keeper, Surrey Quest, Take Your Time, My Bobby Dazzler and Thanksforthehelp are all up one class. Top of the Bill, The Kniphand and Operation Manna are all up two classes with just three (Jon Snow, Galileo Silver & Dubrovnik Harry) running at this Class 2 last time.
WHAT'S NEW : Top weight Jon Snow makes a handicap debut on his first start for George Baker, Bear Ghylls is in first-time cheekpieces as are Surrey Quest & Thanksforthehelp (who runs for the first time since wind surgery) whilst Southfield Harvest is blinkered for the first time
COURSE/DISTANCE FORM : Southfield Harvest (2m bumper) and Operation Manna (2m4f hurdle) are former course winners and Jon Snow, Galileo Silver, Southfield Harvest & The Kniphand have all won over a similar trip to this one whilst Bells of Peterboro, Toip of the Bill and Take Your Time are all former course and distance winners.
LAST RUN : Take Your Time has had a 12-week rest, Top weight Jon Snow has been off nearly five months and it has been eight months since Galileo Silver was last seen. He was in fine form, though when signing off with a run reading 11P2212. The rest of this field have all raced at least once in the last two months, but all have had a fortnight or more to get over their latest effort.
Suitability for expected conditions is quickly and easily shown via Instant Expert...
There's not actually masses of experience of these conditions when all is said and done with Bells of Peterboro's eleven attempts at similar trips the most we've got in any section. Some have, of course, fared better than others and Top of the Bill is probably the eye-catcher on wins to runs. I suspect that many of these will look better if we just considered place form...
...which might help to form an E/W bet later. Weight might be an issue for many of these with seven of them carrying 6-9lbs more than their last win with one at +4lbs and another at +5lbs. Take Your Time, however is now 3lbs lower and represents a yard that won this race in 2021 (& 2016), whilst last year's race was won by the trainer of Top of the Bill and The Kniphand.
Past large field races over this going/course/distance have favoured those brave enough to attempt to set the pace and those keeping handy to the pace have also done well here...
...which based on the more recent efforts from this field...
...suggests we might well have a proper battle on our hands with so many of these preferring to race prominently with only Top of the Bill and out and out hold-up horse.
Summary
The Kniphand looks like the 'form' horse here and he's two from two at the trip, he's going to be up with the pace and despite being raised another 7lbs here for his most recent win, that might not be enough to arrest his progress. He's still unexposed after five starts and there's probably more to come from him. He'd be the one to beat in my book, but 5/1 in a 15-runner race hardly sets the pulse racing.
Of the rest, there are a few that I like the look of ie Dubrovnik Harry, Bells of Peterboro, Galileo Silver, feature horse Operation Manna, Kings Keeper and Top of The Bill. In a race where the bookies are paying four places, I'd not be surprised if the four placers are in those seven I've listed, but I wouldn't back The Kniphand or Operation Manna at just 5/1 and I'd be concerned about Top of the Bill trying to come from the back of the pack, if there was plenty of early pace.
This leaves me with possible E/W bets. I'm not sure which Dubrovnik Harry turns up here, though. If he races prominently, he would be a decent pick at 11's, but he has been held up in two of his last three and I wouldn't want that here. Kings Keeper has never been beyond 2m4.5f and although he stayed on well last time out, he's up in class, trip and 6lbs, so I' want more than 17/2 about him.
And so, almost by default, we're at the 12/1 Bells of Peterboro and the 9/1 Galileo Silver. Both will be up with the pace and both are attractively enough priced for an E/W bet. Bells wasn't disgraced last time out and this former course and distance winner now drops in class. He had a full line of green on the place side of Instant Expert and could well be worth a 12/1 play. The fly in the ointment with Galileo Silver is a 224-day absence, but he was in great form last winter and travels/jumps well. He has finished fourth and second after breaks of 187 & 190 days respectively, so the lay-off might not be an issue and a 9/1 bet might just see a small profit from the race.
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- Tix Picks, Saturday 04/01/25
- Tix Picks, Friday 03/01/25
- Tix Picks, Thursday 02/01/25
- Tix Picks, Tuesday 31/12/24
- Tix Picks, Monday 30/12/24
