Sam Twiston-Davies’ William Hill blog: Potters Charm back cantering, good and fresh

William Hill ambassador Sam Twiston-Davies previews his rides on the William Hill Super Saturday card at Newbury.

At this point in the season all eyes are on Cheltenham Festival and the majority of the Festival horses have had their final runs. Potters Charm is obviously one who ran at Cheltenham Trials Day, and it was disappointing, of course, but he was just never himself that day. However, I firmly believe we can put a line through it, and he will be back. We said before that there is enough time between that run and the Festival to get him ready, and there’s no reason not to be positive. He’s been wandering around the roads at home, good and fresh since. He had his first couple of canters back on Thursday morning, and he seems very happy and well in himself.

East India Dock was another from Trials Day, and he was very impressive in what he did—I was extremely happy with how he felt. I thought his jumping was fantastic, and it was an all-round polished performance over what will be the course and distance for the Triumph. I’m very excited for him.

As I said, the prep races for the Festival have been run, including a lot over the past weekend at the Dublin Racing Festival, and it was a hell of a weekend of racing. Obviously, Willie [Mullins] had a great week, as did Joseph O’Brien and Gavin Cromwell. As boring as it sounds, Galopin Des Champs impressed me yet again—he really looks special! He’s going to be a very short price to complete his hat-trick of Gold Cups, but the way he went around there at the weekend—jumping, travelling—he stays incredibly well. He’s going to be very hard to beat at Cheltenham.

But first we have the William Hill Super Saturday at Newbury to look forward to at the weekend.

Newbury, Saturday

I kick off with Sam Brown (2.25pm) in the William Hill Bet10 Get10 On Racing Denman Chase. He’s obviously very consistent, and he is rated very highly considering his age. We’re due a touch of rain on Friday, and hopefully, the forecast is correct because that will only help his chances. He’ll most likely be down the market, but you can’t discount him. He almost always gets himself out of the race a touch in the early stages, but he stays on well, so if he goes off good and quick, he may well be right in the mix considering how strongly he finishes.

Master Chewy is up next in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Game Spirit Chase (3.00pm) and I feel for ‘Chewy’ this season—he hasn’t had the most luck this year. We’re hoping that he can bounce back here at Newbury. This is not an easy race by any means, but hopefully we can get him jumping into a nice rhythm and be competitive. Obviously, he’s got to step up quite significantly to win this race, but with a nice, clear round, he’ll be well in with a chance of some prize money.

Hillcrest (4.10pm) is back out in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase. The handicapper was good to him last time, and I’d say this is as good an opportunity as he’s had to get his head in front. Once again, hopefully the forecasted rain arrives before racing. Tactically, we’ll aim to get him out nice and prominent, into a good rhythm and fingers crossed we’ll see a performance much more like the one we all know he’s capable of.

We finish off the day with the debutant, Colin Hobbs (4.45pm), in the William Hill Top Prices Beacons Bumper. He’s a winner of his Point-to-Point, and he’s doing well at home. This is a very tough race to start in, but we just thought that the track would suit, and Newbury is a nice place to begin. This will give us a fair idea of where we are with him and provide a good starting point for him and for us.

Obviously, it’s a busy weekend of sport, which I’m looking forward to as much as anyone. I like following my NFL, and I’m excited for the Super Bowl. It’s a bit cliché, but I’ll be cheering on the Chiefs!