The Weekend Winners team return in search of winners at Newmarket and Chepstow.

The feature race on the Saturday of Chepstow’s DragonBet Welsh Racing Festival is the Wasdell Group Silver Trophy Handicap Hurdle, ran over the extended two miles and three furlongs trip.

Eighteen runners are set to go to post, with French Ship and Josh The Boss towards the head of the market with good to soft ground anticipated in Monmouthshire.

Midway through this week’s show, the team analysed the race and picked their winners…

Declan Rix…

“I’m going to go with last year’s winner Josh The Boss. When Jamie Nield’s 7lb claim is factored in, he’s only 3lbs higher than last year and I thought he won it in really good style. Sam put him up last year and it must have been a very comfortable watch. He looked just in great form with himself, loving life and out pricking his ears. I thought he jumped pretty well overall and quickened really well from two out to one out, putting the field to the sword.

“It’s maybe not the best horses that will be winning these races, sometimes it’s just going to be the fittest horse. It’s the time of year for the Twiston-Davies yard, they get their horses ready early! Sometimes they can taper off towards the end of the season but that didn’t happen last year, they held their form really well. However, that wasn’t the case with Josh The Boss but maybe that’s no surprise given how ready he was in mid-October.

“I’m hoping he’s as ready again. He’s coming off the back of a wind operation and we had Willy Twiston-Davies on Sky Sports Racing this week, who said his work is better than ever! He’ll do for me.”

Kate Tracey…

“I’m with Royal Infantry. I still think there is so much more to come from him! He’s on Handicap debut here and is a really smart horse running off a very feasible mark as well. If he doesn’t go off favourite I won’t be surprised but I think he at least should be vying for favouritism. He has a very good record fresh as well, which is a very key aspect at this time of year.

“He won on rules and stable debut in January 2024 before winning on hurdling and seasonal debut last season – also at this meeting in a maiden hurdle over two miles. He was a previous point-to-point winner but still looked green and inexperienced that day, and was still put in at 40/1 for the Supreme! He is still a very smart horse, being a Listed bumper winner before finishing eighth in the Champion Bumper in 2024. He had a wind operation in January but that saw him return to form on his subsequent starts, including last time out when second in a Listed hurdle behind a Willie Mullins horse.”

Sam Boswell…

“There’s a David Pipe horse I really like in the JP McManus silks in Thanksforthehelp. We last saw this horse winning at Punchestown and the form of that looks pretty strong. The horses in behind that have won since have all gone on to do a variety of things. The second won the Summer Plate at Market Rasen for Gavin Cromwell, the third finished second in a competitive Handicap and then won a maiden. The fourth won a chase, the fifth won a Novice chase and a few others further down haven’t ran again since.

“I still think he’s feasibly quite well handicapped back over here after that win. He has gone well at this track on his one start, winning a Pertemps qualifier. There’s enough there that ticks the boxes and the ground shouldn’t be an issue. I thought he was a tentative play at around 10/1 – a nice easy one to start, eh?”

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