Racing Lee’s Saturday Horse Racing Tips For Newbury

Nicky Henderson has won this four times in the last ten years and seven times in the last twenty renewals. He’s ran 21 runners across that period, with seven winners and 12 placed.

He took this race last season with First Street and won it with Epatante. This season relies on the filly, Under Control for back-back wins in the race.

Under Control contested the always competitive Mares Novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, she then readily won a Grade Three at Cheltenham’s April meeting before cosily taking a Class Two handicap at Sandown on soft ground.

She’s now nine pounds higher starting out this season, but the second Iberico Lord has won the Greatwood Hurdle, with plenty of form lines in behind. The third from the contest has since won this season to Frank the form nicely.

She’s been well backed but looks the type to take this on the road to better things. She’s a course and distance winner and four wins from just five starts.

She should have this race “under control”.

The fiercely competitive Coral Gold Cup takes centre stage at Newbury, and I like the look of the Paul Nicholls trained, Complete Unknown.

A heavy ground bumper winner in Ireland, he turned into a fair hurdler for the Nicholls team, without being a world beater.

Although he did win a Grade Three at Sandown in his short stint as a hurdler.

He won a handicap chase off 142 three runs back, before running into one of the Gold Cup market leaders in Gerri Colombe. That was in a Grade One at Aintree where he stayed on well for second over three mile-one. The third that day had been third in a Brown Advisory and the fifth has won this season on his latest run.

Complete Unknown reappeared in a three-runner contest, with the runner-up winning a non-contest match race (other runner pulled up but won next time out).

Paul Nicholls is in red-hot form with a 30% strike rate in the last 14 days (at time of writing), the great trainer has won this multiple times, including with the mighty Denman. And, in Complete Unknown he has an ideal candidate to notch another off a fair racing weight and mark of 152.

Nassalam tackles another competitive handicap chase, but he may be over-looked. He won a handicap chase at Ascot beaten Solo off a mark of 140.

He then won the Grade Two novice chase here by 30 lengths, that was two seasons back, and as proved by jumping to his left, these left-handed tracks suit him best.

He won off 144 at Lingfield before running in the Paddy Power chase of last season, he ran third on New Year’s Day this year with both the first and second due to compete in this weekend’s Coral Gold Cup, the fourth that day ran third behind Stage Star in the Paddy Power Chase at Cheltenham in November. He’s top weight, but for a reason.

He has a good pilot in Caoilin Quinn taking off three pounds, and I’m hoping his class can tell on a track that suits.

He’s the each-way play of the weekend.