Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Quaviste has strong claims in Morebattle

There are a total of six meetings scheduled to take place across Britain and Ireland on Saturday, with my focus on the card at Kelso on Morebattle Hurdle day.

Among my Saturday horse racing tips is one for Dan Skelton who looks well placed to challenge in the prestigious handicap.

14:55 Kelso - Quaviste @ 5/1

Dan Skelton’s QUAVISTE shaped nicely on his handicap debut at Kempton last month and is of major interest off just 10st 4lb in the feature Morebattle Hurdle for Dan and Harry Skelton.

A Huntingdon bumper winner last season, he underwent wind surgery after finishing down the field in a Grade 2 at Aintree’s Grand National meeting and has proven himself a consistent performer over hurdles this season - running to Racing Post Ratings of 110 and 111 (twice).

He’s officially rated 113 and, whilst clearly not thrown in off that mark, he was doing all his best work from the last at Kempton and should be capable of exploiting this figure with this track’s stiffer finish expected to bring about improvement.

15:30 Kelso - Florida Dreams @ 3/1

The Nicky Richards-trained FLORIDA DREAM hasn’t won the amount of races that a horse of his ability should have, but he’s extremely consistent and will likely appreciate coming back to 2m5f, having not convinced on his first attempt at 3m last time.

The eight-year-old contested the feature Morebattle Hurdle on this card 12 months ago and performed well, finishing fifth of the 18 runners behind Cracking Rhapsody.

That was his only previous visit to this track and, given that 2m trip would have been sharper than ideal, he makes plenty of appeal in this lesser race off a 2lb lower mark.

Narrowly beaten at Carlisle in November and a solid third behind the rapidly progressive Kabral Du Mathan at Haydock the same month, he’s remained in good form since and is preferred to Olly Murphy’s Good To Be Alive, who may struggle to concede 7lb.

17:10 Kelso - Old Gregorian @ 2/1

Only four face the starter for the concluding novices’ handicap chase and it looks another good opportunity for the Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore-trained OLD GREGORIAN, who was left to come home alone in a match at Wetherby in October.

The seven-year-old has yet to finish out of the first three in four visits to this track, winning twice over hurdles and hitting the frame on two occasions behind Cracking Rhapsody, most recently when third in the Morebattle Hurdle off a mark of 121 on this card 12 months ago.

He was always likely to be make up into a better chaser, however, and he made the perfect start over fences, albeit benefiting from the departure of an odds-on favourite when coming home alone at the A1 track in the autumn.

He jumped well on that occasion and, while an absence of 136 isn’t ideal, he’s open to plenty more improvement and is getting plenty of weight from arguably his chief rival, Push The Button.

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