Ladbrokes Trophy Preview - 30th Nov

The Ladbrokes Trophy, or the Hennessy Gold Cup as older fans will know it by, is one of the premier jumps racing handicaps of the season. At the top of the weights we have genuine graded horses, who will be looking to make their mark in a higher class of race while those at the bottom will be hoping they are well handicapped enough to beat their better quality rivals.

In the 2018 race, things were dominated by trainer Colin Tizzard who had the first Sizing Tennessee and the second Elegant Escape, and it is Tizzard who is worth looking at once again as he appears to hold two strong chances.

Elegant Escape Can go Close Again

Following a nice reappearance in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, where he was a never nearer second to Ballyoptic, Elegant Escape comes into the Ladbrokes Trophy with a good chance once again. He has 5lb more to carry than he had last year, but ran a great race and even if you take into account the extra weight, he would still have placed last season.

This is the type of test he needs as we saw last time when he was outpaced over three miles, but then stayed on again at the end. They will go quick here, but the additional two furlongs should allow him to get into the race better and use his staying power to good effect.

West Approach Looking to Build on Recent Cheltenham Success

The second of Tizzard’s eye-catching challengers is West Approach, a horse who comes here on the back of an impressive win in bad ground over 3m3f at Cheltenham, so he is another who will relish this test and definitely stay the trip.

He is towards the bottom of the weights, and has just a 4lb penalty for his Cheltenham win, which is very fair. His chase rating is still lower than his hurdles rating when he was mixing it with the best and chasing home horses like Paisley Park, so there is plenty of optimism that he is still well handicapped.

He travels into his races very well, and Robbie Power was fantastic on him at Cheltenham, easing him through the field and into the race. He will get the same again, and should be travelling smoothly while some of the others are beginning to struggle and fade away, he is another with an each way chance in what looks like a competitive renewal.

Colin Tizzard has four runners in the race, with Mister Malarky and Robinsfirth rounding off his challenge, although those two don’t appeal anywhere near as much as the two we have spoken about.

The antepost betting market has been dominated by a gamble on OK Corral, a horse who looks like going off favourite, though this will only be his fourth chase start. He won twice in small fields before being pulled up at Cheltenham, and there has to be a question mark over whether he has the race knowledge and toughness for a battle like this, which is why he is passed over.

Ladbrokes Trophy Betting Tips

• Elegant Escape EW @ 11/1 with Coral (EW 5 places)
• West Approach EW @ 14/1 with Coral (EW 5 places)

Horse Racing Betting Offer

10Bet Horse Racing double win boost

10Bet are currently running this nice little offer which could be the perfect accompaniment to Saturdays racing. Place a £5+ bet on any race, at odds of 5/1 or greater, if you win, get a £5 free bet. So if you are looking to back either of our two fancies in the Ladbrokes Trophy, and should they go on to win, at the current odds you will also get this added bonus of a £5 free bet.

You may also be interested in:

Betting Strategies for Jumps Racing