‘A Plus Tard is worth taking on’ – We think this horse can beat the Gold Cup winner 😱

We are in for an absolute feast of racing on Saturday and the highlight has to be the Betfair Chase, where A Plus Tard bids to keep his crown. Make sure you check out our ITV Racing tips which will be live on the website on Friday afternoon, and all of our other free horse racing tips can be found on the website.

Adrian Wall thinks A Plus Tard is worth taking on for the big race at Haydock Racecourse, and here is why….

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A Plus Tard is worth taking on

Trained by Henry de Bromhead, whose yard is in good form at present, there’s no doubt A Plus Tard is the worthy favourite for the Betfair Chase. He is our current Gold Cup winner and won this corresponding race by 22 lengths last year going away.

However, persistent rain is forecast at Haydock on Thursday and Friday, and with the course already seeing plenty of soft in the description, it is likely to be very soft or even heavy in places on Saturday.

A Plus Tard won this race on good to soft last year, and the day he won the Gold Cup it was also good to soft. The last two times he has run on proper soft to heavy ground, he has been turned over.

He still may have the class to win but I am taking him on with Protektorat of the Dan Skelton yard. This horse was well behind A Plus Tard when a remote third in the Gold Cup, but he achieved a career best 172 RPR in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree last year and a repeat of that relentless galloping effort brings him right into this.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.