1:30 Ascot Tips

Interesting runner here for Paul Nicholls in Viroflay, who was impressive for daughter Olive in point to points and Hunter Chase contests, including the Champions Hunter Chase at Punchestown, where he bumped into Emmet Mullins’ Its On The Line, just touched off at Cheltenham. The pair finished 35 lengths clear of the rest, which tells you plenty about the level of form. This eight year old loves right handed tracks and decent ground. He now drops back to the same distance over which he dominated from the front at Kempton, so at around 4/1 he should make a bold bid for a successful seasonal reappearance.

Six starts over hurdles for the 7-year-old, form 131210. Beaten just 1/2L in a strong Listed hurdle race during February. He is coming off an 8-month break and is making his chase debut. Good stable and will be ready. Strong jockey booking, decent handicap mark, and he can have too much class for these three rivals.

I initially liked Old Gregorian, but he’s been taken out, which doesn’t leave much to go at. But at 4/1 the field, it looks like an interesting race despite only being four runners. There could be a fair pace on here, with three of these looking likely to want to take this forward. I’m hoping for some throat cutting here as a result, and with Gary Moore chucking in a 4-year-old with a weight-for-age allowance, I’m hoping he can make the most of a featherweight with that 9lb allowance. It’s hard to judge if this is a good mark, but he was purchased for a dialect punchy 95 thousand Euros in July. He’s out of a dam that has produced a few winning chasers now, albeit none off this sort of mark. Moore has won 2 of the last 8 renewals, including with a 4-year-old Nassalam.