Silver Cup Handicap Betting Tips, Offers and Preview, 17th December 2016

Silver Cup Handicap Betting Tips and Offers, Saturday 17th December 2016, Ascot, Race time: 15:00

There are 20 names declared for the Silver Cup Handicap, the penultimate race of the day at Ascot on Saturday. It’s a touch under three miles long and it has the privilege of having Arkle as one its former winners, the Irish thoroughbred winning here in 1966, a year after the race’s inception.

Read on for the lowdown or check out our Long Walk Hurdle betting tips instead.

Preview

This is a race with a reputation for being quite difficult to predict with recent trends not offering too much in the way of use. Winners in the past 10 renewals have had official ratings ranging from 128 to 152 with a fair balanced split between them. We’ve had winners as young as five and as old as nine since 2004 and again, quite an even mix of younger and older names doing well here. Even a look at the odds don’t give us too much to go on, three of the last eight renewals have seen double digit winners although four of the last five have been 4/1 or shorter.

The lack of clear trends isn’t helped by the absences of races in 2010, 2009 or 2005 due to snow and frost but there is no danger of a cancellation this year. The forecast at Ascot is mild and cloudy and the going is expected to be good to soft. Despite falling last time out, Saphir de Rheu narrowly heads the betting as he seeks his first win in over a year. With several runners all very close behind though, this is an incredibly open renewal that looks like being anyone’s for the taking.

Betting Verdict

Good form is never a bad sign coming into a race and that makes Minella Daddy (12/1, Betfair) an attractive option here. His last run came here at Ascot and it was a very dominant one too in which he jumped very well and stayed on strongly. With two distance victories and a placed finish already this season, he appears to have made some good progress over the summer months and worthy of being backed at his decent price. Another strong contender looks to be Vyta Du Roc given his low weight here. Nicky Henderson’s horse will run with just 10st 12lbs this Saturday as the former course and distance winner looks to improve on recent outings this season. He’s a very capable horse on his day and he looks very much suited to a race like this.

There have been shocks in this race in the past as we look further down the betting, Tenor Nivernais seems very generously priced. As he is yet to feature this season, he’s a bit of a gamble but second place finishes during two Grade 3 races last season suggests he can compete here. His most recent winning performance came at Ascot and a previous course victory certainly has some worth. Also good value for money is 33/1 (Sky Bet) shot Annacotty who has experienced a very inconsistent 13 months. Two impressive victories have been separated by some poor showings so you can’t be sure what you’ll get with the eight year old here. At such long odds though he seems worthy of a small side bet if nothing else.

With both of our betting tips available at best odds with Coral, why not join today and claim a £20 free bet for just a £5 stake?

If this great race has got you in the mood for events next March, take a look at our Cheltenham Festival tips and offers!