Ben Linfoot free horse racing tips forCheltenham November Meeting ITV Racing Saturday November 14
Our form expert tackles day one of the November Meeting at Cheltenham on Friday and he has two selections.
Get ‘Done in the Albert Bartlett
Plenty of rain is forecast at Cheltenham through Thursday night into Friday with some forecasts suggesting 20mm is a conservative estimate of the rainfall set to hit Prestbury Park ahead of day one of the November Meeting.
The ground is going to get much softer on the Old Course and it’s going to be a key factor on a day where Jonbon is the star attraction in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase over two miles.
He won’t mind the easing of the ground and he’s well used to bullying inferior opposition as he did in this race 12 months ago when obliging at odds of 1/3.
I don’t think he’ll be that skinny this time if they all run, particularly with L’Eau du Sud offering up fresh opposition after graduating from last season’s novice crew.
Dan Skelton is flying and his horse gets 3lb from Jonbon, while he was in such great nick this time last year it makes you think it could be he’s at his best fresh early in the campaign.
The seven-year-old has two years on Jonbon and if he improves a little and Nicky Henderson’s horse isn’t quite at his best, there probably isn’t the kind of gulf to bridge that the ratings suggest there is. However, the market has cottoned onto this line of thinking with L’Eau du Sud well backed into as short as 5/2 in places, so I’m happy to leave the feature race alone.
The novice races are interesting and there are some likely types in the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle over 2m5f at 3.30, including Paul Nicholls’ Champion Bumper ninth No Drama This End who is well thought of.
This could be tough for a hurdling newcomer with the weather in mind, though, and of the horses with hurdling form the one I reckon he has most to fear from is Gavin Cromwell’s WELONLYHAVEDONE, who graduated from points and bumpers with a clearcut win over two miles on hurdling debut at Galway in October.
His trainer could hardly have found him a weaker race, but his next assignment was a different kettle of fish later the same month at the same track over half a mile further where he took on Declan Queally’s I’ll Sort That who had previously won by 13 lengths at Listowel.
With Gowran winner Ma Jacks Hill in the field as well this race had much more substance to it and Welonlyhavedone looked to have the pair of them covered when coming down at the last.
That looks the best hurdling form in the race and Cromwell has put together a tidy record at this meeting over the last few years, while his horses look to be turning a corner after a barren spell.
Like most of these, we don’t know how he’ll handle conditions, but progeny of Diamond Boy have an excellent strike-rate on heavy ground and that increases confidence he’ll be fine however much rain falls.
The Verdict: Back WELONLYHAVEDONE in the 3.30 Cheltenham
Who you gonna Call?
In the Listed Sun’s “Save Our Bets” Novices’ Chase James Owen’s One Big Bang handled softer ground well over hurdles and he’s an interesting chasing debutant against a trio of horses that have had some fencing experience.
With that in mind I thought we might get bigger than 7/2, but he’s clearly a smart prospect showing the right signs at home.
That leaves the Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Chase over 2m4f at 1.45 and Evan Williams’ CAN YOU CALL looks the ideal type for this sphere particularly with the ground likely to go in his favour.
The 10-year-old is relatively lightly-raced for his age and he has very rarely had his ideal testing ground conditions over fences, but he looks dangerous from the foot of the weights off 119 with the rain coming.
The last time he encountered ‘heavy’ ground he won a Uttoxeter handicap hurdle easily off 118 after handling the conditions very nicely and he showed at Chepstow last December he has the ability to mix it in this class when he split Lowry’s Bar and Le Milos.
Brian Hughes is an interesting jockey booking and while this horse is an infrequent winner, the stars might just have aligned on Friday.
The Verdict: Back CAN YOU CALL in the 1.45 Cheltenham
Preview posted at 1450 GMT on 13/11/25
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