Saturday’s horse racing preview

Charli Parcs prepares for Cheltenham

Kempton provides the star attraction on a busy day of UK and Irish horse racing on Saturday, with meetings at Lingfield, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Chepstow and Fairyhouse giving support. Punters looking to cast their net further afield in search of profit can get involved in matters at Meydan, which starts at 12.00pm.

Click here to have your say on all of Saturday’s horse racing. Read on as we detail our NAP and next best at Kempton, and there’s a selection in every race, at the bottom of this page, which should help boost up your Lucky 15 bets and multiples on the highlight of the week.

Three Musketeers to cause an upset

Race of the day for us goes at the Surrey course, with an explosive grade three handicap chase due off at 3.35pm. Double Shuffle and Irish Saint have dominated the antepost betting at Coral, but in-form Three Musketeers looks to gate-crash the party at a decent price.

Team Skelton join forces on this six-year-old gelding who scored a run-of-the mill win around Market Rasen little over a month ago. He didn’t gain an awful lot from that effort in terms of beating quality opposition, but it was a win, kept him sharp and would have done confidence no harm whatsoever.

The selection has only been edged up 2lb by the handicapper as a result of that success, which doesn’t set alarm bells ringing – he did win by a solid margin, beating Kilcrea Vale – and that rates as a real positive for followers. The going at the moment is another tick in his box and, boasting a couple of grade two wins in the past, he should do himself justice here.

Charli Parcs to keep sharp

In the second race of the day, the 1.50pm juvenile hurdle, we get a chance to have a look at Nicky Henderson’s well-respected Charli Parcs. The three-year-old is currently being quoted as 6/1 third-favourite at Coral for the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham next month, and can also be found 5/1 second-fav with us in the Triumph Hurdle.

Little more is expected of Barry Geraghty’s ride in this Grade Two contest than to win and sharpen up for the festival, and the odds compilers seem to agree. He was last seen scoring here, a couple of days after Christmas, and will be popular in the betting ring to keep his perfect record intact.

Kempton Selections

1.15 – Argante

1.50 – Charli Parcs

2.25 – Charmix

3.00 – River Wylde

3.35 – Three Musketeers

4.10 – Full Shift

4.45 – Champ

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