A good winner for my followers yesterday: Ciel De Paris landed the 12:55 at Deauville. He returned at 5/1, which was a very decent price.

At Salon-Provence today, I like French Colorado in the 12:27. He ran well in a much stronger race last time out at Saint-Cloud (Gr.3) and was previously second over this track and trip in a Class 2 in September. He should have too much for his rivals, and at around 10/3 he represents good value.

In the 1:47 handicap, Askari carries top weight but was only narrowly beaten into second at Fontainebleau on November 3rd. He remains lightly raced with more improvement to come, and at 7/2 he looks appealing.

Looking at the Deauville card. I do like Ciel De Paris each way in the 12.55 race. He should be suited by the slight drop back in trip today and is well drawn.

Vertbois 3.50 has been running well over a mile mostly of late, the step up to just over 9 furlongs should not pose too many issues and he will be hard to beat.

More soon.

Good to get a winner at Auteuil the other day, Mamaland scored with authority, having been heavily supported in the betting form 11/2 into around 5/2.

Some good racing in France today at Deauville. I will do an update later with a possible horse worth backing, no prices available at the moment.

At Newcastle 4.00, I do think the current second favourite Zoustar Dreams will take beating, she is around 7/4 with most firms. She drops back in trip after a decent effort over 6 furlongs at Southwell last time out, and should have the speed to cope. The Newcastle minimum trip is on the rise throughout, so the stiff track should be ideal.

More around 11.30am today.

Good competitive racing at Auteuil today. The meeting starts at 11.13am with a Class 3 chase. Secret D’Etat is short odds around evens to follow up on his win at Durtal at the start of this month over fences. He had been off the track for over two years before that win and is a former Listed hurdle winner at this track in 2023. He faces an improving mare in Kind Lovely, who is a live threat.

Mamaland in the 11.48 race is a bit of value at around 11/2 and can run a big race on only her second start. She stayed on strongly on debut at Clairefontaine when making her debut in late August. She is a big unit and has been given time since that effort.

Kill Pass has won both starts, on the flat and over hurdles at Compiegne late in October. He looks like a smart operator who can get the hat-trick of wins. He runs in the 12.58 race over hurdles.

More soon.

Good racing today at the meetings at Ascot and Haydock. It was good to see Grey Dawning win, well ridden by Harry Skelton ! He must have read my blog recently, as he was in the perfect place at all times, and oozed confidence going to the last fence.

I managed to find a winner in France today with Mondialito D’Huez , who was heavily supported from around evens into 8/15. He remains unbeaten and will likely now go over hurdles.

It was sad to see il Est Francais get pulled up three fences out at Ascot in the 1.30 race. He has a history of breaking blood vessels in the past and it will be interesting to see if that was the case again today.

I will put something on tomorrow morning worth looking at in France, at the meeting at Auteuil.

An early start to racing in France today. At Lyon Parilly in the 9.40 race, which has a small field of six lining up, Mangos, reverts to hurdles after success over fences at Auteuil on November 5th. He is a winner over hurdles on debut and he should be able to get the job done again back over the smaller obstacles.

Mondialto D’huez will try to remain unbeaten in the 11.00 race at Fontainebleau and should be too smart for his rivals. He has a couple of live threats in Match Amical and the Christophe Soumillon mount Mabriska, both of them are also unbeaten.

At Ascot in the 1.30 race, which is a Grade 2 event, Il Est Francais will try to take the prize back to France. He will likely be ridden positively by regular rider James Reveley and could be hard to catch if allowed to set his own fractions from the front.

JPR One would be my pick in the 3.15 race, which is a competitive handicap chase. He has cheekpieces for the first time and will be ridden by the excellent Brendan Powell.

More soon.

Reflecting on today’s racing at Ascot, I felt the final race at 3:45 featured a couple of disappointing rides from Harry Skelton and Sam Twiston-Davies on Hitintheheadlines and Saint Jeannais, the first and second favourites. Both were held up at the rear despite a very sedate pace—the slowest time of the day.

The winner, The Walk, and the runner-up, Double The Dance, were well positioned throughout and were given plenty of leeway when the latter quickened from the front with about four furlongs to run.

I think Brendan Powell is riding extremely well at the moment, and Joe Tizzard, who trained the winner, has his horses in excellent form. Powell is strong in a finish and makes very few errors.

Harry Skelton is known for riding from the rear on many of his mounts. It seems clear that his brother Dan prefers his horses to be ridden patiently, a style that doesn’t necessarily suit every horse.

Good cards tomorrow in the UK and France. I will try to give a couple of selections worth looking at in the morning.

Looking at the racing at Fontainebleau today, with a couple of races of interest.

The 11.25 is a Chase in which the favourite Akwaba is very skinny odds at around 4/6. I would prefer to back Matador Forez, who is generally priced around 100/30 with most firms. He was third in the same race as Akwaba last time and is a couple of pounds better off today. He has a few lengths to find, but is a nice type who can keep on improving.

Bathea De Ballain 1.12 is another worth backing each-way at around 5/1. She ran well on her sole start over the track and trip on debut and was tenderly handled. With natural improvement she can give a good account of herself.

More soon.

Good results for my followers yesterday. Leopard Du Berlais won easily in the 1:15 at Auteuil and looks like the best young horse in France at the moment.

Kaadam, in the 3:07 and backed each way by me at 22/1, was travelling strongly and looked to have a big chance when he landed too steeply two fences from home and fell. He had every chance of winning at the time. He has been prone to jumping errors this season, but if he puts it all together, there’s another big prize in him.

At Cheltenham, Alexei — whom I backed on Saturday at 9/1 — won the big handicap hurdle comfortably at around 3/1. He was well supported in the betting throughout the day.

More soon.

Looking at the racing at Cheltenham today, which will run on very soft ground. The big handicap hurdle at 3.30 is well contested with several of the field with leading claims, having shown form on soft/heavy ground before. The horse I backed yesterday at 9/1 was Alexei, who has been strongly supported into around 7/2 with some firms. He should be ok on the ground, and was impressive at Ascot when winning 15 days ago in a handicap hurdle. He needs to step forward from that success.

At Auteuil in France, on ground that will be sticky and ride classed as heavy, Leopard Du Berlais has looked like a class act in his two starts, winning at the track on each of them. He will be a strong favourite in the 1.15 race, which is a Grade 1 hurdle worth 162,000 euros to the winner.

I have backed Kaadam each way at 22/1 in the Prix La Haye Jousselin (Grade 1) Chase 3.07. He is a top-class performer on his day and has been below par on both starts this season, both at Auteuil. He will need to jump better than he did last time, when he unseated his rider. At big odds, he is a bit of value; if he returns to the form of old, he can be involved.