Ben Linfoot free horse racing tips for Cheltenham Trials Day and Doncaster

The Verdict tips: Saturday January 28

1pt e.w Panic Attack in 12.10 Cheltenham at 14/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3)

1pt e.w Nocte Volatus in 1.50 Cheltenham at 18/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)

1pt win Ahoy Senor in 2.25 Cheltenham at 8/1 (General)

1pt win Molly Ollys Wishes in 3.00 Cheltenham at 12/1 (Hills)

1pt e.w Cooper’s Cross in 3.15 Doncaster at 20/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3,4)

Digging for Gold in the Cotswold

I wrote in midweek how good Trials Day is at unearthing Cheltenham Festival winners and it could well live up to its name again this year thanks to a blockbusting nine-race card.

The rescheduled Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Clarence House Chase promises to be a great spectacle with Energumene expected to see off Sporting Life Arkle winner Edwardstone in a pre-Champion Chase cracker, but the Grade 2 Paddy Power Cotswold Chase holds its own against the rerouted Ascot race.

Two horses that are single-figure prices for the Gold Cup run here which means the Cotswold might finally find a winner of the Festival highlight for the first time since Looks Like Trouble back in 2000.

Okay, Galopin Des Champs might have a thing or two to say about that, but there’s no doubt both Protektorat and Noble Yeats come into this contest as good as ever with both registering striking victories last time out.

If Protektorat jumps like he did at Haydock he’ll take some stopping and you can say the same about Noble Yeats’ finishing effort at Aintree, but those visuals mean they take up the lion’s share of the market here.

Both have penalties to carry as well and Noble Yeats has to prove himself around the track, so I’m happy to take them on with AHOY SENOR at 8/1 who might just put it all together for the first time this season now he returns to Cheltenham.

That’s a very fair price when you look back on his Brown Advisory form last spring, where he was beaten only three and a half lengths by L’Homme Presse despite numerous fencing errors in a race where he beat subsequent Grade 1 winners Gaillard De Mesnil and Capodanno.

This time last year he was giving Noble Yeats 5lb and a beating at Wetherby and though that horse was on the road to Aintree then and has improved hugely since, it’s an indication of how quickly the tables have turned.

Ahoy Senor hasn’t fulfilled his potential this season, but there have been excuses. Kempton isn’t his track so I’m happy to strike a line through his King George run, while he was too fresh and keen on his seasonal reappearance at Wetherby.

Keen again in between those runs at Aintree, he was blown away by Noble Yeats on the run-in, but he ran much better in third and that was a hint that he’s still got the engine if he can just cut out the mistakes.

That has been this horse’s Achilles heel ever since he saw a fence, but the conditions of this race give him a chance and if he can just get into a nice rhythm he can bounce back to top form.

The Verdict: Back AHOY SENOR at 8/1

Good golly don’t miss Molly in the Cleeve

Paisley Park goes for a fourth Dahlbury Stallions At Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle and Emma Lavelle’s stable star is a hot favourite to achieve the feat.

He’s a super horse and on official ratings this is his to lose, but there is a possibility this will be falsely-run with only Dashel Drasher a confirmed front-runner.

Jeremy Scott’s horse isn’t proven over three miles, though, and when he tried the trip for the one and only time against Noble Yeats at Aintree he was held up, so this could be messy tactically.

That wouldn’t play to Paisley Park’s strengths and while he might be good enough to get away with it the 12/1 about MOLLY OLLYS WISHES looks a bit too big.

Dan Skelton trained her for last weekend and the Cleeve looks very much Plan C with Ascot and then Lingfield called off, but this is her time of year.

She hosed up at Warwick in mid-February two years ago and last year she won well at Ascot at the end of January, so I’d expect a peak performance after a two-month break.

At Wetherby and at Ascot she has won off similar absences and her pace – she’s won over two miles at the former track a couple of times – can ensure she’s a potent threat to all from a prominent position under Harry Skelton.

The Verdict: Back MOLLY OLLYS WISHES at 12/1

The Cheltenham handicaps

PANIC ATTACK looks an each-way bet in the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase at 12.10.

David Pipe used this race as a stepping stone to Cheltenham Festival glory for Un Temps Pour Tout for the same connections but while he was beaten in this race Panic Attack will need to go close if she’s to get in the better handicaps in the spring.

She might well be an Ultima project herself if she’s good enough to get in as I’m sure she’ll thrive when she goes up in trip, her third at Kempton over 2m4f on Boxing Day a good effort in the circumstances on a track where she was outpaced.

Her finishing effort was encouraging with this stiffer track in mind and off the same mark she’s a big price at 14s.

Later on Fugitif looks highly-progressive in the Paddy Power Cheltenham Countdown Podcast Handicap Chase and he might defy a 10lb rise, but NOCTE VOLATUS looks underestimated at prices around 18/1.

Tom Lacey’s horse was hugely progressive himself last season, improving from a mark of 90 to 132, but I’m not convinced the handicapper has got hold of him yet.

His seasonal reappearance at Hereford in December saw him bump into one in Equus Dancer, but this was a well-run race that sorted the men from the boys and the pair finished 23 lengths clear of the rest.

A mistake at what was the last fence that day was the difference between glory and defeat, but he travelled really well off the sound gallop which bodes well ahead of Saturday’s assignment.

He’ll likely be prominent under Stan Sheppard and a bold bid is expected.

The Verdict: Back PANIC ATTACK and NOCTE VOLATUS at Cheltenham

Cross word at Doncaster

In the Sky Bet Chase it will be interesting to see how Ga Law fares up 8lb for his win in the Paddy Power on his first go at three miles but he looks short enough at 11/4.

Mister Coffey was on my shortlist earlier in the week (see video preview, above) and I can see him going well but with all the double-figure prices disappearing I can't argue he's a bet now.

There are a few horses stepping up in trip in the race and one that has flown under the radar is Stuart Coltherd’s COOPER’S CROSS at 20/1.

He bolted up at Carlisle on his reappearance, looking better than ever in his first season outside novice company, and I liked both his efforts since behind Brave Seasca at Aintree and Minella Drama at Musselburgh.

But for a bad mistake at the last he might’ve given Minella Drama something to think about and one vital error has hampered him on his last couple of starts.

He’s a good jumper in the main and the step up in trip might help him in that department as he’s related to a couple of 3m+ winners, including Some Can Dance who won in first-time cheekpieces.

Coltherd, who has a handy enough record with cheekpieces first time (4 from 25 at 16%), reaches for the sheepskin here and this array of ingredients could easily spark a career-best effort.

The Verdict: Back COOPER’S CROSS in the Sky Bet Chase

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