ITV horses for courses: Three track specialists for Saturday

It’s a triple header on ITV Racing on Saturday afternoon. Haydock and Beverley take pride of place but there is also a fascinating handicap at Chester. A busy day for our horse racing tips also sees racing from Cartmel, Catterick, Punchestown, Ffos Las and Salisbury.

Beverley is a quirky track which lends itself to course specialists. Haydock is rapidly heading the same way despite being a more conventional track. The surface there makes it a happy hunting ground for a small group. We have gone though and found three horses on Saturday who fit the horses for courses bill.

1.45 Haydock – Betway Handicap

Hyperfocus has three wins and a third from five runs at Haydock. He was a touch disappointing on his last visit to the track in October but he was on the wrong part of the track on that occasion. Soft ground suits him well so connections will be hoping that conditions don’t dry out too much between now and the weekend.

The other four of those five runs are all within the top eight RPR’s of his career which has taken in forty-one starts. That shows just how much he likes this place, arriving here from just a pound above his last winning mark so he’s certainly well enough treated at present.

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3.30 Haydock – Betway John Of Gaunt Stakes

Winner of this race when it was last run in 2019 was Safe Voyage. He has scored in four of his five visits to Haydock, finishing second on his only defeat. Firm ground was no help to him in the Breeders’ Cup when well beaten on his final 2020 start but his recent return in the Lockinge was also well below par.

He tends to go well fresh so perhaps it was simply that a Group 1 field at the age of eight was too much for him. Given that he was in career-best form last season, that would be a quick regression so it would be no shock if he were to make a step back in the right direction at his favourite track.

3.45 Beverley – bet365 Handicap

Sibaaq is a perfect 2/2 so far at Beverley, those two efforts a long way clear of the rest of his body of work as far as RPR’s go. They came on a sound surface and while he was runner-up on soft at Goodwood last season, that was a little disappointing coming off the back of a win at this track.

Conditions are likely to dry out ahead of the weekend which will play to his strengths, taking on the toughest field he has raced again. He’s only had seven runs in his life so there should be plenty more to come and his yard could do with a winner or two.

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