Saturday Racing Tips: Victoria Cup fancy one of Owen’s four

It truly is a super Saturday we've got lined up, with nine - yes, nine - meetings across the UK & Ireland, including Premier Racedays from Lingfield, which hosts the Betfred Derby Trial, and Ascot.

Three of my four Saturday racing tips come from those two venues, alongside one from my local track Haydock.

13:00 Haydock - Long Draw @ 9/2

Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen are in ridiculous form at present, operating at 59% and 43% strike rates respectively, and the pair can strike again at Haydock on Saturday with LONG DRAW in the opener - a £20k handicap hurdle over an extended three miles.

The six-year-old has been highly-progressive this season, rising from a mark of 106 to 134 - a total of 28lbs - over the last eight months.

His latest outing at Cheltenham's April Meeting, when beating the reopposing Harbour Lake who's just three pounds better off here, after a 111-day layoff was a clear career-best, and I don't think a 6lb hike is at all harsh.

He remains unexposed over this distance and with connections in such form, he must have every chance of following up.

13:50 Lingfield - Fox Avatar @ 5/2

My attention then switches to the Flat, starting at Lingfield with FOX AVATAR in a 0-80 handicap over 1m2f.

Roger Varian's four-year-old son of Frankel built upon a promising start to his career in August last year to get off the mark at the second attempt at Beverley the following month, but disappointed at Nottingham subsequently. It was soft ground that day in late October and everything looked a bit laboured for the selection, so I'm happy to put a line through that run.

His reappearance in a Chelmsford handicap last month was much more like it, finishing an eye-catching fourth of eight, just a length-and-a-half off the pace, on what was his first start over the trip. A fine effort in a decent little race.

Fox Avatar remains open to significant improvement and given that, he's very much the one to beat in this nine-runner contest off an unchanged mark of 76.

14:40 Ascot - English Oak each-way @ 11/1

The big betting event on Saturday is the Victoria Cup, which sees 19 runners compete over seven furlongs at Ascot.

In a very difficult contest, an each-way chance is given to ENGLISH OAK for the in-form Ed Walker (23% strike rate).

The five-year-old was brilliant during the first half of last season, winning the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot off a mark of 99, but his form tailed off a little bit towards the end of term.

He was gelded not long after his final run in October and reappeared six months later in a £23k handicap at Haydock, beating just one rival home and finishing almost nine lengths adrift of the winner.

On the face of it, a poor effort. However, it was his first outing in over 200 days and his first after a wind op, and likely nothing more than a warm up for Saturday's assignment, so it's not worth looking too much into.

The handicapper has dropped him two pounds as a result, to 106 - just seven pounds higher than his Royal Ascot triumph. If he can bounce back to anything like his best, he should be very competitive.

This is an Extra Place Race, with five places on offer at 1/5 the odds for all each-way bets.

15:50 Ascot - Cape Breton @ 11/4

Last but certainly not least, we've got the Nap of the Day - CAPE BRETON.

It's fair to say the son of Frankel, who fetched 450k guineas at the sales, is proving a slow burner for Arc-winning trainer Ralph Beckett and owners Juddmonte.

He finished last of four on his debut at Ascot in September, albeit against useful rivals including the reopposing Law Of Design and Richard Hannon's 90-rated Angel Hunter, before placing fifth of seven at Newmarket the following month - again, in an above-average event featuring the likes of Nebras (97), Wild Nature (90) and Nakeeb (86).

He lost his maiden tag at Lingfield in November, just about holding on to beat a 125/1 shot who's done nothing since. However, the third is rated 77 today, the fourth won next time out and the fifth obliged in a handicap at Chester's May Festival this week off 80, so there's mixed messages in regards to that form.

Cape Breton strikes me as a horse that's going to improve greatly this season. I thought he looked weak and immature as a juvenile, so hopefully the extra year and gelding operation - plus a step up in trip - results in him taking a significant step forward. If so, he can prove a whole lot better than his current mark of 78.

With Beckett's string in fair nick (23% strike rate), he's taken to make a winning start to his three-year-old campaign.

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