Tony Calvin Antepost Tips: Cap Du Nord has huge chance at 10/1

• Cap Du Nord a definite bet at 10/111.00

• He has a huge chance of his current mark

• Drying Kempton ground could be good by Saturday

To be honest, I initially thought I really didn't have much to add to yesterday's ante-post piece from a betting perspective - Malina Girl, advised at 12s on Monday, is into 13/27.50 now and she clearly isn't a punting proposition at her current price - outside of some useful snippets to convey.

But then a 10/111.00 bet hit me between the eyes just before I filed.

Read on.

Kempton looking good?

The first snippet was that Kempton report that the "track has dried significantly" since Monday and the going is now good to soft (soft in places). The soft will presumably disappear with the dry forecast, and it is not out of the realms of possibility that good may appear in the description come Saturday afternoon.

It remains heavy, soft in places, at the two other ITV Saturday courses, Warwick and Wetherby. No rain is due at either track.

Kempton Saturday 14:40 - No Bet

That drying Kempton ground will be a concern to those who have backed Nemean Lion from 8s to 6s with the Sportsbook on Tuesday afternoon for the Lanzarote at 14:40, as trainer Kerry Lee is on record as saying she won't risk the horse on anything better than good to soft because of his fragility and leg issues.

He was pulled out because of the good ground both at Ascot and Kempton in late December.

As I said in yesterday's piece, I liked him most for the race, stepping up in trip, but not at 8s (I wanted double figures) and not on the possible ground.

I'll wait until the day before I decide what I do with him, but backing him now involves a fair bit of risk.

The drying conditions will play into the hands of Jay Jay Reilly, though (I made the case for him yesterday) but the Sportsbook agreed and made him 20s, when he is a generous-looking 33s in 10 places on the Oddschecker grid.

But, then again, his trainer has four entries in the race, so he may also be best revisited after 10am on Thursday.

I did the double-entries for the Lanzarote in yesterday's column (they were Douglas Dc, Kaleb and Shallow River) so I may as well do the same for the other seven ITV races here.

Many people ignore these when tipping and betting ante-post, but I think it is irresponsible to not at least mention them to would-be punters and readers.

Kempton Saturday 13:30 - Back Cap Du Nord

The 3m handicap chase at Kempton at 13:30 sees the following with more than one option this week: City Chief, Minella Trump, Hudson De Grugy, Cyclop, De Rasher Counter and Belargus.

Cap Du Nord looked a very fair 10s chance with the Sportsbook off a mark of just 121 after shaping well at Newbury last time, much better than the bare form would suggest. The problem was that I thought he would also be entered in the rescheduled veterans' race at Warwick.

However, just before I filed, the entries for the old-timers contest came out and Cap Du Nord wasn't among them, so he is a definite bet at 10s with the Sportsbook.

That's a generally available price, with the sole 12s in the marketplace being snaffled up just before 3pm.

Basically, he has a huge chance off his current and correct mark (he would have had to race form 6lb out of the handicap had he gone to Warwick) and some of his better performances have come over 3m around Kempton on decent ground.

Indeed, he is 6lb lower than when winning the old Racing Post Trophy over track and trip in 2022 - and he also bumped into a then 140-rated Royale Pagaille when second here in 2020 - and he is very much a plot horse, though he is an 11yo now, so maybe we shouldn't overplay that.

However, I saw enough at Newbury last time to suggest his time has come again. You'd like to see the stable in a touch better form but that doesn't deter me here.

I don't know if he is an intended runner, and he has gone to Doncaster at the end of the month for the last three years, but there is no reason why he can't do the Kempton-Donny double anyway.

There are no double entries in the Silviniaco Conti Chase at 14:05, just as well as there are only seven in it. Pic D'Orhy is the Sportsbook's 2/13.00 favourite.

Wetherby and Warwick double entries

In the Grade 2 Towton novices' chase at 13:10 at Wetherby, the 3s second favourite Apple Away is also in at Warwick. The 10/111.00 chance Meetingofthewaters could run at Punchestown on Sunday, and Crebilly, Hurricane Highway and Trelawne could go elsewhere, too.

Little wonder Colonel Harry has been trimmed into 4/51.80 today.

Over at Warwick, the 2m54yd handicap chase at 13:15 has been kicked off the ITV schedule (good move with just six entries), and the aforementioned, rescheduled veterans' handicap chase has been put on the roster, having been saved after being part of the abandoned card at Sandown last Saturday.

More of that in a minute, but the 3m5f handicap chase at 15:00 sees only City Chief, My Silver Lining and Ramses De Teillee as the double-entered horses in the race.

In the Pertemps qualifier at 13:50, the list is: Good Time Jonny, Shallow River and Belargus. In the Grade 2 novices' chase at 14:25, Trelawne and Apple Away are also in at Wetherby, as discussed.

The veterans' chase will now take place at 15:35 on the card and there are 17 in the race.

Double-entries are Cyclop, De Rasher Counter and Ramses De Teillee.

Good luck.

Now Read Tony Calvin Antepost Tips: Malina could be the Girl to back at Warwick

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