2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tips – DS
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tips
The weather has wreaked havoc with this weekend’s racing. All UK jumps meetings have been lost so we have action from across the Irish Sea on ITV on Saturday. Last weekend Dave Stevos landed another 14/1 winner with J’Ai Froid. Hopefully we can continue our decent run of form, check out Dave’s 2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday tips below.
1.55 Navan – Navan Handicap Hurdle (Listed)
Although the track was frozen at Navan on Friday morning, temperatures are due to rise. Looking at the forecast it should be raceable by Saturday afternoon so hopefully, it thaws in time. If racing does get the go ahead the ground will likely be soft and holding. It will be hard work and when the ground is like that, it takes a tough horse to go through it.
One horse that should be fine in these conditions is the locally trained Make Good. Shane Crawley’s charge was last sighted running a stinker over hurdles here two months ago (22f hvy) but he is a better horse than that. He had run really well at the Curragh just 19 days earlier so perhaps it just came too soon for him.
Freshened Up
Crawley has freshened this former G2 Cheltenham winner up since then. That win came in December 2020 over 3 miles but he must have got injured because he spent almost two years off the track afterwards.
Since moving to Crawley from John McConnell’s he has rattled the crossbar twice on bad ground at the Curragh. The son of Fast Company clearly enjoys the muck and his proven stamina will be an asset here.
With Aidan Kelly’s claim he effectively runs off 124 and on that Cheltenham form, he is chucked in off that mark. Now, he may not be the horse he was so it is hard to be overly confident but that run at the Curragh in October showed he retains at least some ability. He has also won on the flat at Navan (14f sft) so we know he’ll stay up the hill. So, at odds of 16/1 Make Good is the e/w selection.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: Make Good e/w @ 16/1 (4 places)
2.00 Lingfield – BetMGM Handicap (Class 3)
We also have all weather action from Lingfield on Saturday. First up is this decent looking 8f handicap and a maximum field of 12 go to post. The interesting one at a price for me in this is Darwell Lion. Ruth Carr has her horses in top form and this fella should be nearing peak fitness now after a couple of quiet runs since moving yards/returning from a break.
This 6yo was formerly trained by David O’Meara and then John Butler and he has a fine record around here. He won on his debut over 7f, he then beat Dutch Decoy by 3.75L off 85 over a mile on his next visit and he was only beaten 2.75L off 90, again over a mile, the last time he ran here in February of last year.
Carr’s charge now returns to the scene of some of his best runs and he is very competitively handicapped off a mark of 86. With £18k going to the winner, this is a race that Carr has likely targeted and the way he has been campaigned suggests as much.
He wasn’t beaten that far despite finishing last over 7f at Chelmsford last time, a mile around here is much more suitable so at 20/1, Darwell Lion is the e/w selection.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: Darwell Lion e/w @ 20/1 (5 places) NAP
2.30 Navan – Ardmulchan Handicap Hurdle (80-109)
The old handicap debutant quandary raises its head again here. Ignoring my usual reluctance to back first time handicap runners paid off handsomely for us at Leopardstown with Ataboycharlie and I am extremely tempted to put Run For Harry up on his handicap bow here.
His maiden hurdle run on heavy ground here last March would give him every chance off 109 today but he’s been beaten huge distances on both runs this season. He is a nice horse but I suspect he may want better ground than this to show his full potential so this time, I’m going to stick to my guns and leave him alone.
Well Bred
The one I’ll take a punt on here at massive odds on his second handicap hurdle run is Zeeland. Trained in Galway by PJ Gilligan, this son of Sea the Stars was an extremely useful flat performer in the UK for Roger Varian and then Micheal Bell. He won the Northumberland Vase off 88 over 16f on the all-weather at Newcastle for Varian and he was placed on soft ground at York over 14f.
On his first couple of starts for Gilligan in February last year he shaped nicely enough in a pair of maiden hurdles, here over 16f and at Naas over 15.5f. He ran pretty poorly on his first two runs of this campaign at Cheltenham (16f sft) and Thurles (23f yld) but he at least qualified for a handicap mark.
Forced A Fast Pace
The assessor awarded him a rating of 102 and he made his handicap debut in the race won by Ataboycharlie at Leopardstown (16f yld). He admittedly finished well beaten in the end but he forced a very fast pace from the outset and he was bang there until 2f out when those early exertions took their toll.
Some of his best flat form has come when ridden more quietly so I am hoping patient tactics are deployed by Jack Gilligan today. The blinkers worn last time are discarded and this 20f trip should suit him better given that he stayed 2 miles on the level.
With his jockey’s claim he is effectively running off 93, 3lbs lower than his flat rating of 96. He might need more experience in these big field handicap hurdles but even so, at odds of 33/1 I think he is worth backing e/w for small stakes.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: Zeeband e/w @ 33/1 (5 places)
2.35 Lingfield – BetUK Handicap (Class 2)
Ten sprinters will fight it out for this valuable 5f contest and it looks open. The one that looks very dangerously handicapped in first time blinkers is the 7yo son of Siyouni, Zarzyni. Trained by the Barrons, this ex Irish performer spent most of 2023 in the doldrums. He failed to win in seven starts on the turf but as a result, he is now down to a mark of 84.
He has done all of his winning on the grass and while he is 0/6 on the all-weather, he has never finished out of the first three. He’s finished second three times from three runs at Southwell, beaten 3L, 0.5L and 1L off 95/96. His other two a/w runs came at Wolves where he was beat a neck off 97 and 1.75L off 85 on his first run back from a break earlier this month.
The usual cheekpieces are dispensed with today and the blinkers are an interesting addition. You’d imagine he’ll be a touch sharper for his reappearance and on all his old all weather form he is well treated. Adam Farragher is 1/4 with two places when riding for this yard, hopefully he can add another place at least to that record on Zarzyni at odds of 10/1.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: Zarzyni e/w @ 10/1 (4 places)
3.05 Navan – Beginners’ Chase (5yo+)
This looks to be a race where the market leaders will dominate. No bet.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: No bet
3.10 Lingfield – Winter Oaks Fillies’ Handicap (Class 2)
On her run over 8f here last time, Dayzee is surely overpriced at odds of 16/1. That was her first start for Barry Brennan and she was beaten a head by Crystal Casque off 85. Another head behind her in third was Twirling, who was in receipt of 1lb. Dayzee is 3lbs better off with that rival today so it is hard to understand why she is 16s and Twirling is 4s.
This filly is a very consistent sort and she has already won over today’s trip of 10f. That came on fast ground at Salisbury off 79 but she is also effective on artificial surfaces. Since winning on debut at Dundalk (8f) a year ago for Mark Fahey, she has form figures of 132 on all weather tracks.
She was far from disgraced on her sole try in class 2 company over 10f in a hot race at Newmarket in July. That was a much stronger race than this one and that run here last time was her first outing since, so you’d imagine she will strip fitter now. At odds of 16/1 Dayzee has to be worth chancing e/w.
2024 Navan & Lingfield Saturday Tip: Dayzee e/w @ 16/1
3.42 Navan – Gormanlough Handicap Chase (0-102)
If he can repeat the level of form he showed on his penultimate chase run at Killarney, Hutchie could outrun his odds of 20/1 here for Stephen Carey and JJ Slevin. This 8yo is in off 96 today, 9lbs higher than he was when winning a handicap hurdle at Galway last September. However, his next run was arguably even better.
This half-brother to Blackbow was having his first outing over the bigger obstacles for Carey at Killarney (23f yld/sft). Sent off at 20/1, he found just Road To Return too good by 3L. They pulled well clear of the third and the winner ran a cracker off 115 in a handicap chase at Cheltenham on his next start.
Break
The tight, right handed track and drop to 21f probably didn’t suit him at Tramore 11 days later and Carey gave him a near 4 month break after that run. It was a pleasing comeback over hurdles at Punchestown five days ago where he finished 5th of 17 over 16f on soft ground.
JJ Slevin now takes over from an inexperienced claimer and Hutchie steps back up in trip. On that Killarney effort he is surely well handicapped off 96 and it should suit him returning to a left handed track. His Punchestown outing should have left him spot on fitness wise and once this run doesn’t come too soon, hopefully Hutchie can hit the frame at odds of 20/1.
