Horse Racing Tips on Saturday, March 26
There are five meetings spread across Britain on Saturday, March 26th with the action coming from Doncaster, Kelso, Kempton, Stratford and Wolverhampton. Our expert tipster has produced their top tips across the cards, which make up our advised Saturday Lucky 15.
Empirestateofmind (2:25 Doncaster)
Off the mark at the eighth attempt last season, EMPIRESTATEOFMIND rounded off the campaign in fine form for connections, winning three of his last five starts as a three-year-old.
Back to back handicap victories at Musselburgh and Thirsk was followed by a respectable effort in defeat at Ayr, staying on strongly in the closing stages and only narrowly failing to reel in Kevin Ryan’s Ventura Rascal over 1mile.
Empirestateofmind wasted little time in returning to winning ways, however, with a dominant victory last October at Pontefract, keeping on well once again in the closing stages to run out a comfortable winner at the line.
Although sent off market leader on his final start last campaign at Redcar, John Quinn’s charge was unfortunate to bump into the very well treated Mujtaba who was completing a hat-trick of wins from a mark of 90, and considering William Haggas’ runner could make up into a Group level performer, that effort in defeat looks particularly strong.
If ready to roll on seasonal return, Empirestateofmind should have plenty more improvement to come as a four-year-old and a mark of 83 may still underestimate his true ability.
Theatre Glory (3:15 Kelso)
Handicap debutant THEATRE GLORY is a standout selection in Kelso’s Class 2 contest after winning two or her opening three starts over hurdles for connections.
An impressive bumper winner at Worcester last season, Nicky Henderson’s mare made it two from two on hurdling debut at Huntingdon on seasonal return, quickening right away from six rivals in taking fashion.
Off the back of that opening success over timber, connections pitched the mare into Listed company on just her second hurdle outing at Newbury, and despite being no match for stablemate Ahorsewithnoname and Dan Skelton’s talented mare Elle Est Belle, Theatre Glory was far from disgraced when coming home in third.
A return to calmer waters on her latest outing saw Nicky Henderson’s charge bounce back to winning ways at Warwick, once again displaying a smart turn of foot in the process to brush aside her toiling rivals in behind.
The five-year-old should have plenty more to offer now contesting handicaps off a mark of 129 and with the yard’s handicappers running particularly well recently at the Cheltenham Festival, Theatre Glory is a confident selection to record another success before being aimed at bigger targets down the line.
Saturday Lucky 15 Racing Tips. Theatre Glory can provide Nicky Henderson with a Kelso winner.
Mujtaba (3:35 Doncaster)
Trainer William Haggas has won the Lincoln four times in his career and last landed the 1mile handicap back in 2018 with future Group 1 performer Addeybb. Connections will be looking for a record-breaking fifth win in the contest this season with the unbeaten MUJTABA, and on the evidence of what we saw on track last season, the son of Dubawi could be very smart indeed.
After comfortably landing back to back wins at Chepstow and Chester in novice company, William Haggas’ runner made his handicap debut off a mark of 90 at Redcar and despite drifting markedly in the betting beforehand, Mujtaba made no mistake and readily saw off his seven rivals with a dominant and taking display under jockey Dane O’Neill.
Returning this weekend from a mark of 98, Mujtaba is difficult to oppose at the top of the betting and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see William Haggas’ fast-improving colt make up into a Group level performer in time and is one to keep firmly on the right side this season.
General Idea (4:10 Doncaster)
Groundbreaker sets the standard off the back of a runner-up effort at Kempton when last seen, and whilst Andrew Balding’s three-year-old has valuable experience on his side, he could be up against it with some notable newcomers in opposition this weekend.
The betting always proves to be a useful indicator with unraced individuals but perhaps it’s worth supporting GENERAL IDEA on debut for trainer William Haggas.
Owned by the Queen, the three-year-old colt is bred to be a useful performer given his smart pedigree and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this son of Galileo make an immediate impact on debut with the yard sending out plenty of first time out winners in recent seasons.
An eye-catching entry in this year’s Derby suggests General Idea is showing plenty of encouraging signs in his work at home and this Galileo colt could turn out to be an exciting prospect for connections in time.
William Haggas’ General Idea can provide the Queen with a winner on Doncaster’s eight-race card.