Joe Tizzard weekend runners blog: 'I hope the bookmakers are correct with our runners!'

Coral ambassador Joe Tizzard has six runners across the weekend at Ascot on Saturday and Carlisle on Sunday. The trainer previews them all in his latest blog.

Saturday

• Western General - Ascot - 2.05 race odds

• Alexei - Ascot - 3.10 race odds

• The Changing Man - Ascot - 3.45 race odds

Sunday

• First Confession - Carlisle - 12.32 race odds

• Claim The Throne - Carlisle - 1.02 race odds

• Hartington - Carlisle - 2.02 race odds

Saturday

It’s a big weekend for us, with some of our bigger names in action, and at Ascot we have what the betting says are two major chances in their feature races, so let’s hope the bookmakers are right!

Ascot 2.05 – Western General

Our first runner, Western General, managed to win three races last season, but I felt the handicapper was hard on him, as they were only little races he was winning. However, we are where we are with his mark of 137, so we’ll have a go here, find out how good he is, and if this is too deep, he’ll at least get dropped a few pounds I hope!

Ascot 3.10 – Alexei

Alexei ran a cracker to finish second in the Welsh Champion Hurdle, and as mine have generally needed a run, he should come on plenty for that Chepstow effort. He is a horse we like a lot, he’ll enjoy the decent ground, and I’m really looking forward to this.  Off a mark of 127 I hope he can go close.

Ascot 3.45 – The Changing Man

The Changing Man loves Ascot, and we’ve done plenty with him at home, so I’m happy with how fit he is for his return. He was so consistent last season, I don’t think we’ve kept anything from the handicapper, but this is a £100,000 race, so he’ll be doing his best in what we hope is a prep for the Coral Gold Cup.

Sunday

Carlisle 12.32 – First Confession

First Confession has been schooling well at home, he was always a horse we were looking forward to going chasing with, and this is a lovely place to start him off.  I hope he is in for a big season, we can give him a nice introduction here and build from it.

Carlisle 1.02 – Claim The Throne

Claim The Throne was progressive in bumpers last season, winning one at Exeter, and he’s had experience of jumping in his point-to-points.  I do think he’ll improve with racing, but equally I think he has the ability to run well in a race like this now.

Carlisle 2.02 – Hartington

Hartington is a horse I like, I think he’s well-handicapped off the back of a good second at Windsor last season, and this is his trip.  It’s a decent pot up for grabs, but I think he has a really good chance of picking up place money at least.

View the latest horse racing odds and specials.

All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.