Today’s free horse racing tips: Best bets for Saturday’s ITV racing at Ascot

WE’VE been spoiled with some top-class racing over the last couple of weeks.

And this weekend’s offering is no exception, with cracking action at Ascot, Wetherby and Down Royal.

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It’s great to have the jumps back and the action steps up a gear on Saturday with some mouthwatering racing on ITV.

But it’s also a treacherous time of year for punters as it often takes a few weeks for things to settle down as horses return from their holidays. So tread carefully and don’t go OTT.

I can’t wait to see Cyrname in the Charlie Hall and I think he is the likeliest winner. But I’ll just take a watching brief this time with a few niggling doubts (trip, going left-handed) enough to put me off getting involved financially.

There are a couple of proper races at Down Royal, too. The Champion Chase is ultra-competitive and it’s a race I want to enjoy without having a bet. If you put a gun to my head, I’d probably side with Chris’s Dream.

But it’s at Ascot where I will be putting my money where my mouth is.

My main fancy is KID COMMANDO (3.05 Ascot) for the excellent Anthony Honeyball.

This is a horse with a huge engine, as he showed in bumpers in the first half of last season, before a facile win over timber at Plumpton and a decent third in a Kempton Grade 2.

A winning pointer, he almost certainly found two miles on good ground too sharp a test in the Dovecote, while the winner Highway One O Two looks very exciting.

This stiff 2m is the ideal starting point and there is a bit of rain around which will be right up his street as he is a strong stayer at the trip.

He goes well fresh and his trainer holds him in very high regard. He’s a fair unit so there ought to be more to come this year, and if he isn’t better than a 136 horse I’ll eat my hat.

I’ll also have a couple of quid each-way on CAID DU LIN (1.55 Ascot) in the Listed Tote Chase.

He is another who goes well fresh and he likes it around here – he won a hugely valuable race over C&D off 7lb lower in 2018.

He has been competitive off 146 in the past, but the invaluable 3lb claim of the talented Charlie Hammond is a nice bonus.

The eight-year-old likes to be ridden patiently and attack a strong pace, something he should get here with Molineaux, Ibleo and Flaminger likely to get on with things.

He returns with his stable in flying form and he goes on anything so he won’t mind if the ground eases a touch.

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