Newbury's Super Saturday Card has been a successful stepping stone to Cheltenham Festival glory in the past and there are a number of contenders on Saturday's card who aim to enhance their credentials for this year's showpiece. Protektorat was third in last year's renewal of the Denman Chase before going on to claim Ryanair Chase glory at the festival on his very next start.
We have insights and analytics available to weave a passage through Saturday's racecard and analyse some of the standout performers on show.
Before his unfortunate injury on the gallops, Sir Gino was due to compete in open-company over fences for the first time. On just his second chase career start, the plan was to emulate the mighty Altior by winning the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase (3:00) as a novice. Sir Gino dazzled on his chasing debut, when dispatching of Ballyburn at Kempton, clocking an Average Speed figure of 50.82kph. The staggering speed figure affirmed the visual impression that the Nicky Henderson star is the real deal. The injury appears to be minor, though the dilemma beckons for Henderson to decide where he will run next, if at all, before Cheltenham.
Matata was the chief market rival to Sir Gino on the initial showing and is rated only 1lb inferior on Official Ratings. The Nigel Twiston-Davies runner posted a career best performance when routing his rivals at Windsor last time out under jockey J J Slevin. He has a course win over hurdles to his name and will be hoping to capitalise on what is now a winnable affair.
Bravemansgame has a good opportunity to get his season back on track in the Denman Chase (14:25). Paul Nicholls isn't having his best season and the pressure will be on for one of his stable stars to return to form. Bravemansgame is unbeaten at Newbury in his three starts, but the nagging doubt about his reliability remains, having been beaten in all of his last ten races, registering his last win way back in December 2022. The distance stats make for interesting reading in this contest, essentially raising alarm bells for the majority of the opposition. Djelo and Le Patron have never raced over this 3-mile distance, whereas Hitman and Ga Law are yet to score over this trip in nine attempts between them. Perhaps this could pave the way for Bravemansgame to outlast them all.
There's an exciting young horse in the opening Novices' Hurdle (13:15) in the form of Klentzheim who will be throwing her Cheltenham hat into the ring. The lightly-raced French import impressed on her British debut when winning convincingly at Kempton on Boxing Day. Another win here and it's likely her odds for the Mares' Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival will shorten considerably.
Our Data Analysts have, as always, highlighted some jockeys to follow at Newbury. Harry Cobden and Tom Cannon appear to be a pair to keep on side. At the Course in the last 12 months, both are currently boasting healthy strike rates of 24% and 22% respectively.