Value Scope: Each-way horseracing tips from Steve Jones for Saturday on ITV
Easy As That is fancied to go well at big odds in the Paddy Power Gold Cup while Chambard is the pick in the amateur riders' race at Cheltenham
Take it Easy for the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
EASY AS THAT (2.20) took well to fences last term and he looks well treated in this prestigious Cheltenham contest.
His jumping was very good when winning handicaps at Haydock and Newcastle on his favoured soft ground.
He was disappointing on his final start of the season when last of five at Sandown but he didn’t appear to enjoy the right-handed track and it was a quick turnaround for a horse who seems best with a bit of time between his races.
His trainer Venetia Williams has her team in sparkling form and there are no better jockeys over fences than her stable rider Charlie Deutsch. Have 2pts each-way at 9-1. Plenty of bookies are paying out on five places.
Williams also holds claims with CHAMBARD (1.10) in the Wienerberger Amateur Jockeys’ Chase.
It didn’t happen for him last season but there was more encouragement in his final start of the campaign when fourth at this track in April.
That was only his second visit to Cheltenham. The first was when a surprise winner of the 2022 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup for today’s jockey Lucy Turner.
Plenty of the runners won’t appreciate the soft ground but Chambard will love it. He’ll also be suited by the likely strong pace. Have 1pt each-way at 14-1. Most bookies are going five places with a couple stretching to six.
Smart chaser CHANTRY HOUSE (2.55) returns to the smaller obstacles in the Paddy Power Games Handicap Hurdle.
The last three winners of this race had all been making the switch to hurdling after losing their way over fences.
Nicky Henderson’s nine-year-old would be the best of them. He won the Grade 1 Marsh Novices’ Chase at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival and also landed the Cotswold Chase – a genuine Gold Cup trial – as recently as 2022.
His hurdles form is just as good. In three runs he won two and finished third behind stablemate Shishkin in the 2020 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
He’s got the potential to be really well treated and giving weight to inferior rivals might be just the ticket. Have 1pt each-way at 9-1. Sky Bet is going five places.
