Saturday Racing Tips: 2/1 Nap heads Owen’s four flutters

It promises to be a super Saturday courtesy of classy cards from Ascot, Wetherby, Down Royal and that small matter of the Breeders' Cup across the pond.

I've studied the cards and come up with four Saturday racing tips for consideration, focusing mainly on the action in Berkshire.

13:30 Ascot - No Questions Asked @ 2/1

Ben Pauling has made a strong start to the 2025/26 Jump season and NO QUESTIONS ASKED can provide further joy at Ascot on Saturday.

The seven-year-old gelding was a useful novice hurdler, winning three of six starts and finishing a close second in the Sidney Banks at Huntingdon back in February.

The only blot on his copybook was in the Martin Pipe at the Cheltenham Festival, but his trainer has confirmed in a recent stable tour with Sporting Life that he scoped badly afterwards, so that is easily excused.

Pauling also suggested his 'potential graded horse' is open to significant improvement this term - and he's name-dropped the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase at HQ in March as a potential target for the campaign.

If he's going to prove up to that class, I expect him to be hard to beat this weekend.

Paul Nicholls' Viroflay has been in good form in hunters' chases but this is a significant step up in class. Former Ditcheat inmate Don't Tell Su, now at Seven Barrows with Nicky Henderson, has plenty of improvement to find - and French recruit Lylian for the Moores is hard to weigh up. He does receive stacks of weight though as a four-year-old. Old Gregorian looks exposed to me.

He's got plenty of weight to carry on reappearance after 232 days off the track, but No Questions Asked looks the answer to this 2m3f novices' handicap chase.

14:35 Ascot - Soomaroy @ 10/11

I can see SOOMAROY getting backed off the boards for this novices' hurdle over just shy of two miles.

The signs are that Nicky Henderson's four-year-old son of No Risk At All is one of, if not the yard's leading novice hurdler this season.

The £190k purchase, whose PTP victory at Ballyragget in March looked smart, had a few excited after being filmed working alongside stable stars Constitution Hill, Jonbon and Lulamba at Seven Barrows recently.

He was also described as a "fantastic jumper blessed with bags of pace" who could be "very exciting" in a stable tour with AtTheRaces.

On top of all that, it is interesting that he starts in the same race Henderson used for the likes of Altior, no less, and last season's Arkle hero Jango Baie.

If he's anywhere near as good as is suggested, he should be able to manage market rivals Military Alliance (penalised for winning an average maiden at Hereford) and Trustintimes (double penalty for back-to-back successes at Uttoxeter).

15:40 Ayr - Walking On A Dream @ 2/1

North of the border, Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore prepare a host of runners, including the lightly-raced WALKING ON A DREAM who makes his chasing debut in a novices' handicap over an extended two miles.

The six-year-old son of Walk In The Park, who fetched £45k last May after four runs between the flags, started out under rules with a close second to Dan Skelton's Country Mile, who is now rated in the high 130s, here at Ayr in October.

He then opened his account over course and distance in the new year, before pulling-up in the G2 Supreme Trial at Haydock just over a fortnight later. That was a quick turnaround and he reportedly encountered problems in training, so I'm happy to put a line through it.

In a stable tour with Sporting Life, Scudamore said the selection has been "working very well" and is "one to keep an eye on" for the season ahead - he could prove a lot better than his lowly mark of 113.

15:45 Ascot - Marble Sands each-way @ 8/1

Finally, I give MARBLE SANDS solid each-way claims in the Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot.

He's nine years old now and therefore unlikely to be getting any better, but he continued to perform to a high level last season and yet has dropped to his lowest mark (142) in over a year and a half.

He's race-fit, proving his well-being with a fine spin on the flat, and his joint-trainers enjoyed a winner earlier in the week, so there's lots to like about his chances in this Extra Place Race, with four available instead of three at 1/5 the odds.

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