Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Narciso Has strong credentials

There are a total of six meetings scheduled across Britain and Ireland on Saturday, day one of the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown and Sandown’s Scilly Isles Chase card being the obvious highlights. 

Among our Saturday horse racing tips is one for trainer Nick Scholfield, who reverts to hurdles following a good effort in the Stayers’ Veterans’ Series Final over fences at Sandown last time.

13:50 Leopardstown - Narciso Has @ 4/5

The Willie Mullins-trained NARCISO HAS proved no match for the reopposing Mange Tout at Fairyhouse in November, but was probably undone by a lack of race fitness on that occasion and should be capable of turning the tables, judged on a subsequent easy win in a Grade 2.

The selection won his only start over hurdles in his native France at Auteuil last April and was strong in the market ahead of his debut for Mullins at Fairyhouse, and while he was unable to justify that confidence, he ran a very solid race behind Gordon Elliott’s filly, who had won at Down Royal at the beginning of the month.

That run appeared to bring Narciso Has on plenty and pulled 11 clear of his nearest pursuer when landing a Grade 2 over this course-and-distance on Boxing Day, a performance which sent him to the head of the ante-post lists for the Triumph Hurdle in March.

He’s open to untold further improvement and is expected to give Mullins his fourth win in the race in the space of five years.

14:40 Sandown - Kitzbuhel @ 5/6

Mullins looks set for a profitable day and KITZBUHEL will take plenty of stopping under Harry Cobden in the feature Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Chase, the grey gelding having produced an impressive round of jumping when scoring in this company at Kempton over Christmas.

A useful staying hurdler, he was unlucky not to win the Grade 2 Select Hurdle here in April, the six-year-old coming home strongly, having lost out in some scrimmaging before the second-last.

He’s looked a complete natural since switching to fences this season and barely put a foot wrong when winning the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over 3m at Kempton on Boxing Day. The third from that, Wendigo, has since hacked up at Ayr, and a reproduction of that should suffice, a drop back to 2m4f on this much stiffer track unlikely to inconvenience.

15:10 Sandown - Gabbys Cross @ 14/1

Former jockey Nick Scholfield has made an excellent start to his fledgling training career, the Lambourn-based handler having sent out seven winners from only 47 runners this season.

That figure could and perhaps should have been even more impressive, GABBYS CROSS finishing with a wet sail on the run-in in the valuable Stayers’ Veterans’ Chase Final here last month, a mistake at the second-last having cost him significant ground and momentum.

The 11-year-old, who won four times for Henry De Bromhead in Ireland, was having only his second start for this yard, and he reverts to hurdles on a handy mark of 125, which is 4lb lower than his current chasing rating.

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