Racing judge Dave Massey is back with his latest round of Saturday Horse Racing Tips ahead of Lanzarote Hurdle Day at Kempton, and Classic Chase Day at Warwick. Read his exclusive thoughts below for kwiff.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Jan 9th 2026
The giant Welcome To Cartries came good at Sandown last time out but whether he’ll be as effective around the tight turns of Kempton is another matter. Soul Icon has to conclusively prove he wants three miles, even around a sharp track, and the pair look like they should be taken on. It was tempting to give Sea Invasion a try, particularly as he’s back in the headgear that saw him win twice last season – it was missing on his seasonal reappearance – and I wouldn’t be putting anyone off a small saver at double-digits.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: The Doyen Chief
But it’s The Doyen Chief (2.05) that looks the likely winner, to me. He was out of his depth in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury but either side of that ran two solid races, second to Deep Cave at Bangor on his reappearance (the pair miles clear) and maybe not quite seeing out the trip at Cheltenham last time, but still running well in defeat, not beaten far behind Blaze The Way and L’Homme Presse. A C&D winner last spring, this looks a very winnable race for the money and he can get his season back on track.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Boombawn (2:40)
Only the four runners for the Silviniaco Conti but an interesting little conundrum all the same. Kalif Du Berlais has been installed a short-priced favourite for this as he’s a Grade 1 winner and only carries a half-penalty for that (as it was a novice race) but he was a bit disappointing on his reappearance at Exeter and has been off since, which means he has a couple of small questions to answer here.
Edwardstone is second in at around the 4-1 mark, but he’s now turned twelve and for all he finished second in the Peterborough last time, he was picking up the pieces somewhat and for a horse of his talents, he’s still only got his head in front the once in the last three seasons.
Maybe a small bet on Boombawn (2.40) is the way to play this. A small field on a tight track is probably ideal for him, and it’s worth remembering he was trying to give the useful Rubaud 5lb when beaten a length over this C&D in the Pendil last February. Better ground today will help his cause too, having found soft at Huntingdon last time against him, and quotes of 5-1 and bigger looks worth chancing.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: The Lanzarote (3:17)
I’ll take two against the field in the Lanzarote. The more obvious of the pair is Came From Nowhere (3.17), who has done just that in the past couple of runs to make himself a contender for this. The Hereford contest he won last time out looked a decent event on paper, with a few unexposed sorts for big yards, and he made mincemeat of them, travelling supremely well and once off the home turn, victory was never in doubt.
A 2½ length win does not do him justice, he was value for a lot more than that, and a 7lb rise looks more than manageable. The Lanzarote has been won by failed novice chasers in the past decade – to be fair, usually trained by Nicky Herderson – and that makes Double Powerful (3.17) of some interest at a massive price.
He’s got some horrendous-looking form figures that look more like an obscenity than anything (UFU) but chasing has simply not been his game, and the unseat back over hurdles at Cheltenham last time out was not his fault, badly hampered by Spike Jones as he fell in front of him. He was a rapid improver over hurdles in 2024, winning six on the bounce, and the demands of this race will suit his hold-up style. This mark leaves little room for error, but con ditions will suit and a better effort would hardly be a shock.
Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Val Dancer (2:55)
If Warwick gets the go-ahead, then the chances are we’ll be missing four of the five fences down the back out (that’s my understanding at the moment, anyway, we’ll see) and that’s going to help anything that tends to make the odd mistake, with eight less fences to jump. That steers me towards Val Dancer (2.55), who has to race from out of the handicap here but all the same, the former Welsh National winner will feel like he’s been let loose in a field with 10-2 on his back.
Like a few from the Mel Rowley yard he looked rusty on his reappearance at Carlisle but it was much more like it when third to Twig in the Becher at Aintree last time, staying on all the way to the line and looking ready to win again soon. Conditions will be ideal and given a propensity to belt one mid-race, having less to jump can only be in his favour.
By Dave Massey
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