Saturday Trends (9th March 2019)

Not long now folks!

Yes, the Cheltenham Festival is now just days away, but before all that we can try and bolster our betting banks with another busy Saturday of action.

Okay, the quality of racing is not up to the normal weekend standard, but that’s to be expected with the Festival just around the corner.

The ITV cameras are at Sandown, with the Imperial Cup the main contest – a race that the sponsors, Matchbook, put up a tasty £100,000 bonus should the winner go onto land any Cheltenham Festival race next week. The last horse to achieve the double was the David Pipe-trained Gaspara, who went onto take the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2007, just three days after winning the Imperial Cup. Will it be done again this year?

There is also live ITV action at Wolverhampton as they broadcast two races that include the Lincoln Handicap Trial – did you know fifteen of the last sixteen winners were aged six or younger?

As always, to help you through the cards we’ve picked some quickfire standout stats and trends that are certainly worth paying attention to.

Plus, you can get more help finding the winner for all this Saturday’s races on our Racing Tips page.

Trends Analysis:

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1.50 Sandown: Trainer Nicky Henderson won this prize in 2011 and 2013.

2.25 Sandown: The Pipe yard have won the Imperial Cup nine times

3.35 Sandown: Trainer Paul Nicholls has won this race four times in the last sixteen years.

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1.30 Wolverhampton: Captain Lars won this race last year.

2.05 Wolverhampton: Trainer William Haggas has a 47% (8-17) strike-rate with his four-year-olds or older at the track.

2.40 Wolverhampton: Trainer Lucy Wadham has a 43% (3-7) strike-rate with her four-year-olds or older at the track.

3.15 Wolverhampton: Trainer William Haggas has a 47% (8-17) strike-rate with his four-year-olds or older at the track.

3.50 Wolverhampton: Horses from stalls three (Bay Of Naples) or five (Gold At Midnight) have won seven of the last ten runnings.

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2.15 Hereford: Trainer Nicky Henderson has a 50% (3-6) strike-rate with his hurdlers at the track.

4.00 Herford: Misty Mai won the race last year, while her trainer, David Rees, has a 38% (3/8) record with his chases at the track.

5.10 Hereford: Trainer Warren Greatrex has a 38% (5-13) record with his hurdlers at the track.

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3.20 Ayr: Trainer Lucinda Russell has won the last two runnings.

4.30 Ayr: Trainer Donald Whillans has won two of the last seven runnings.

5.35 Ayr: Trainer Nicky Richards has a 46% (11-24) record with his NH Flat runners at the track.

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Every LIVE Saturday race covered on ITV can be found on our ITV Racing Tips, with runner-by-runner previews for each contest.