{"id":154004,"date":"2025-11-22T16:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/154004\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:43:13","slug":"this-novice-hurdler-looks-my-best-chance-paddy-power-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/154004\/","title":{"rendered":"This novice hurdler looks my best chance \u2013 Paddy Power News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The top jockey is sweet on Absolutely Doyen\u2019s chances in the 15:45 at Ascot. <\/p>\n

It was an excellent weekend at the Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham last weekend. No Drama This End was really good and it\u2019s not often I\u2019ve taken a pull on a horse going down the hill at Cheltenham! It was good to feel like Paul Townend for once.<\/p>\n

Paul Nicholls was pretty nervous before the race as he knew that one of his best horses was about to make his seasonal debut. He did it well and the plan is to go to the Challow Hurdle at Newbury.<\/p>\n

My second winner came on Saint Clovis in Sunday\u2019s bumper. He is pretty buzzy and raced from the front, but won well. He was pretty \u2018forward\u2019 compared to any of the bumper horses at Ditcheat so far this season.<\/p>\n

L\u2019Eau Du Sud was very impressive for the Skeltons in the Shloer Chase and given Kalif Du Berlais beat him at Aintree it puts his defeat in the Haldon Gold Cup in a better light.<\/p>\n

Maybe we were the \u2018fresher\u2019 horse at Aintree as we missed Cheltenham, but hopefully Kalif Du Berlais can bounce back to winning ways after a break. He\u2019s only a five-year-old after all. <\/p>\n

We took a few horses to Newbury for an \u2018away day\u2019 for Paul Nicholls and while i was there I watched Nicky Henderson\u2019s Constitution Hill in his work \u2013 he went well.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m heading to Ascot on Saturday and I have seven rides lined up.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Harry Cobden\u2019s SATURDAY rides<\/p>\n

Ascot 12:25 \u2013 Percy Shelley<\/a>
Ascot 12:55 \u2013 Presenting Doy<\/a>
Ascot 13:30 \u2013 Pic D\u2019Orhy<\/a>
Ascot 14:05 \u2013 Largy Poet<\/a>
Ascot 14:40 \u2013 Winter Fog<\/a>
Ascot 15:15 \u2013 Sans Bruit<\/a>
Ascot 15:45 \u2013 Absolutely Doyen<\/a><\/p>\n

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change<\/p>\n

PERCY SHELLEY has a rating of 123 but it\u2019s a valuable novice hurdle so he\u2019ll take his chance. He\u2019s having his first run of the season and is ready to roll. Hopefully he runs well in a race where Off The Jury sets the standard.<\/p>\n

PRESENTING DOY is trained by Emma Lavelle and is a nice spare ride to pick up. She\u2019s rated 113 and ran well at Uttoxeter towards the end of last season. She\u2019s a big, scopey, mare and is entitled to improve.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only five runners declared for the 1965 Ascot Chase so it\u2019s going to be tactical. Il Est Francais was just touched off in the King George VI Chase last season before finishing sixth in the Ryanair Chase and is very good. I ride Pic D\u2019Orhy and we\u2019re conceding 6lb so we definitely look up against it. However, Pic D\u2019Orhy has had a run this term and Il Est Francais is making his seasonal debut. Pic D\u2019Orhy loves Ascot and has won this race for the past two seasons. We\u2019ll have a go!<\/p>\n

Largy Poet goes in the 3m 5f Handicap Chase and ran well last time at Fontwell on seasonal debut when second to Lord Accord. He\u2019s consistent, the track and trip is no problem but the concern is that he doesn\u2019t look to have even 1lb in hand of the handicapper. The frost covers are going down and that could mean the ground stays good. It seems silly to say he could be \u2018rushed off his feet\u2019 over the 3m 5f trip, but it could be a case of the softer the ground, the better his chance. He\u2019s Mr. Consistent, but his wins have come on soft and heavy ground. He\u2019s a good servant and I expect him to run well.<\/p>\n

The Ascot Hurdle over just shy of 2m 4f sees me team up with Willie Mullins\u2019 Winter Fog. He was third in the eventful Champion Hurdle last season and was third at Wetherby last time. He has a bit of form to find with some of the others but I\u2019d sooner be riding him, than be sitting in the weighing room, watching on TV.<\/p>\n

Sans Bruit is better jumping left-handed than going right-handed at Ascot. He\u2019s a dual winner at Aintree and has had a run this season but might just be up against it jumping right-handed.<\/p>\n

The final race on the card is the Novices\u2019 Handicap Hurdle over three miles where Absolutely Doyen is top weight. He was entered in the earlier Novices\u2019 Hurdle on the card but was 16lb wrong in the weights-to-ratings so this is a much better fit for him. He runs off a mark of 115 and handles decent ground so let\u2019s hope he\u2019s still ahead of the handicapper. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s my best chance of a winner on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Harry Cobden\u2019s SATURDAY rides<\/p>\n

Ascot 12:25 \u2013 Percy Shelley<\/a>
Ascot 12:55 \u2013 Presenting Doy<\/a>
Ascot 13:30 \u2013 Pic D\u2019Orhy<\/a>
Ascot 14:05 \u2013 Largy Poet<\/a>
Ascot 14:40 \u2013 Winter Fog<\/a>
Ascot 15:15 \u2013 Sans Bruit<\/a>
Ascot 15:45 \u2013 Absolutely Doyen<\/a><\/p>\n

*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change<\/p>\n

read MoreTap here for PP.com racing odds<\/a>The Paddy Power Guide To Safer Gambling \u2013 Everything You Need To Know<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The top jockey is sweet on Absolutely Doyen\u2019s chances in the 15:45 at Ascot. It was an excellent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-154004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}