Saturday Racing Tips: Five to hopefully provide some Joy

A super Saturday awaits racing fans, with six meetings in the UK & Ireland before the Breeders' Cup takes centre stage across the pond.

I've kept strictly to the action on these shores for my Saturday racing tips, comprised of five fancies from Ascot, Ayr, Down Royal and Wetherby.

12:40 Wetherby - Roadlesstravelled @ 11/8

Jonjo & A J O'Neill's ROADLESSTRAVELLED defied a 521-day layoff and a serious drift in the betting to make a winning start under rules at Market Rasen a few weeks ago.

The five-year-old, who fetched £215k after an emphatic PTP success in May last year, went off 5/1 having opened significantly shorter, but he got off the mark with the minimum fuss.

It was a fairly modest affair and this two-mile novice event that opens Wetherby's card on Saturday is tougher, but it's still very winnable and this nice prospect is a strong fancy to get us off to a flyer.

13:30 Ascot - Leader In The Park @ 9/4

We then go to Ascot for a novices' handicap chase over 2m3f that can go to LEADERINTHEPARK for Ben Pauling.

This six-year-old showed ability during an interrupted novice hurdle campaign, but he's expected to come into his own over the bigger obstacles as a 56-length PTP winner and half-brother to dual Grade 1-winning chaser Benefficient.

Pauling was very complimentary about the son of Walk In The Park in a recent stable tour with AtTheRaces, which only adds to my confidence.

He said: "He is a horse that wasn’t quite right last year, and I think the world of him. He is on a handy mark and will go novice handicap chasing and could make into a decent handicap chaser."

There's a chance he'll be a non-runner, for he's also been declared at Carlisle 24 hours later, but if he does line up then he's Nap material - and I'll be backing him on Sunday if that's the chosen option.

13:35 Down Royal - Golden Joy e/w @ 10/1

Five minutes later, I suggest an each-way play on GOLDEN JOY in this 18-runner handicap hurdle over 2m1f.

The betting suggests the five-year-old is Gordon Elliott and Robcour's number two, with Kala Conti a warm favourite at time of publication, but Sam Ewing is Cullentra's top jockey in the absence of Jack Kennedy and he's aboard the selection, who sports the owners' main colours.

Perhaps the reasoning for seven-pound claimer Carl Millar's presence on the market leader, who has undeniable claims, is to avoid a four-year-old filly carrying a big weight, but I don't think it's ridiculous to suggest Ewing picked Golden Joy.

He looked a top prospect when winning for Giada Menato on his debut at Auteuil in April last year, but he struggled in three runs on these shores last season.

He kept good company, though, and probably didn't perform as badly as it appears given he looked a big, backwards type with lots still to learn.

It's worth chancing that he's made serious progress in the 279 days since we last seen him on a racecourse and is now a more polished article that's capable of competing in this field off a mark of 125.

14:29 Ayr - Whistle Stop Tour @ 3/1

We then go north of the border, for the chasing debut of Lucinda Russell's WHISTLE STOP TOUR.

I've been a fan of his ever since he was recruited for £115k having beat stablemate Primoz (now rated 132) in a PTP in March last year, and I'm excited to see what he can achieve over fences.

He made the perfect start over the smaller obstacles last season, winning a Hexham novice by a mere 18 lengths, before a solid run under the circumstances at Carlisle behind two useful types in Johnnywho and Moon D'Orange.

The middle part of his campaign wasn't so bright, but signed off with victory and a fine third behind an exceptionally well-handicapped Dan Skelton runner at Ayr in April.

I'll be very surprised if this six-year-old doesn't prove a lot better than 124 this term and he looks to have been found an ideal opportunity to make use of that lowly mark, as several of Russell's string have already done over the past few weeks.

15:45 Ascot - Amirite @ 6/1

Finally, I'm with Henry de Bromhead's AMIRITE in the Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot.

I really wanted to oppose Chianti Classico, whose season is going to be geared around the Grand National in April, and without him it's the selection I believe provides the class angle.

The eight-year-old son of Sholokhov was disappointing in the Kerry National at Listowel just over a month ago, but that was a messy race dictated by eventual winner Flooring Porter and Amirite won't have enjoyed the soft ground.

Saturday's 'good' is much more like it and with that run under his belt, there's every reason to expect a bold bid off 142 (essentially 139 factoring in Mike O'Connor's three-pound claim) - the same mark as when he finished fifth in the Sandown Gold Cup back in April.

I fancy a replication of that effort would be more than enough to take this modest renewal.

Click the links to find the latest Horse Racing Odds and Today's Horse Races

Find more Horse Racing Tips here at Betfred Insights