Timeform UK SmartPlays: Saturday November 23

This is a day to look forward, not back, but we're going to skip briefly to October 2011 and a novice chase at Chepstow. It featured Duke of Lucca, Teaforthree and Join Together, but was won by Ace High (13:15), who would make the track just three more times for Victor Dartnall. A couple of those contained promise, however, most recently at Cheltenham last month when he was prominent for a long way before tiring. Those signs of retaining his ability probably wouldn't be strong enough on their own to inspire a bet on Ace High, but there's more. His new BHA mark of 132, 10 lb below what he was allotted for winning the aforementioned novice at Chepstow, makes him looks exceedingly well treated. He's also moved to the David Pipe yard, which can only boost any resurgence such is Pipe's record with similar types.

The handicaps on the card are generally competitive. The Grade 3 fixed-brush event is probably top of the list in those terms, but the hurdle over two and a half miles immediately beforehand (13:50) isn't all that far behind. The difference is that, while nothing truly stands out in the fixed-brush race, More of That is clearly the most interesting in the earlier race. His career is only two starts old, but both of those starts have suggested a horse with a higher calling than a BHA mark in the mid-high 130s. He seemed to take everyone (not least AP McCoy, who presumably spurned the chance to ride him) by surprise when dotting up at Folkestone last December, then won a good-quality handicap at Wetherby in style earlier this month. The third at Wetherby, who finished 24 lengths behind the pair that fought out the finish, has since won from a similar mark. This is expected to be another stepping stone towards better things for More of That, though the likes of Clondaw Kaempfer, so promising before he flopped in last year's Challow, will probably have similar intentions.

So to the race that has got racing fans and scribes alike in a lather: the Betfair Chase. From Timeform's viewpoint, anything in the race that involves the opposition of Silviniaco Conti and Dynaste at current prices would register as a smart play, but the smartest play, and therefore the SmartPlay, is to back Bobs Worth. If you were to attempt to find a hole in Bobs Worth, it would be that he is a galloper rather than the relative speedster Haydock normally requires. However in this race that idea can be kicked into the long grass, as the use of the outer Flat track makes this the most testing Betfair Chase yet.

It's presumably the differing conditions that have put Silviniaco Conti and Bobs Worth on the same price at the time of writing, but three miles and a furlong on testing ground is as much a home fixture for the Gold Cup winner as it is for the horse that fell three out in that race when going well. The prices are wrong. If Bobs Worth is right ahead of this reappearance, he'll more than likely win.

Timeform UK SmartPlays
All at Haydock

Back Ace High in the 13:15
Back More of That in the 13:50
Back Bobs Worth in the 15:00

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