Horse Racing: Sam Thomas Can Train Yet Another Chase Winner

by Roy Brindley, 6 January 2022

Wincanton Racecourse will enjoy some rare terrestrial TV coverage on Saturday. The Somerset course plays host to the ITV4 cameras with four handicaps being broadcast live from the venue.

Trainer Sam Thomas has yet to train a winner over hurdles this season. Despite 13 individual horses attempting to enter the winner’s enclosure, none of Thomas’s 20 runners in this sphere have scored.

It is a big afternoon at Wincaton on Saturday. ©GettyImages

Conversely, his record in chase races is impressive; 27 runners have yielded ten winners and an additional five placed efforts. Thomas is operating at an excellent 37 percent strike rate in chases.

Resultantly, single point-stake bets placed on all the trainer’s runners in races of this type this season show a remarkable 34.6-points profit.

Diamond and Silver for Golds?

The South Glamorgan-based trainer saddles two chasers at Wincanton on Saturday and both can make their presence felt.

In the 2.05 pm his Grey Diamond has to shoulder top-weight, but this formerly Alan King and Nigel Twiston-Davies trained horse takes a big drop in class and his running style suggests he should appreciate Wincanton’s downhill finish.

Stolen Silver, also carrying top-weight, looks the part in the 3.15 pm. Another formerly trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, Stolen Silver won on his debut for Thomas in October and went close to taking a valuable Cheltenham handicap a month later.

Pitched into Grade-1 company last time, Stolen Silver was understandably beaten a fair way. However, his running style suggested Saturday’s two-miles and four-furlongs trip will be within his compass, and the seven-year-old grey is ready to score again.

Constitution Laying Cheltenham Foundations

The biggest race of the day is the Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown Park. Here, based on his facile course and distance debut success, Constitution Hill looks a shoo-in for trainer Nicky Henderson. Bookmakers agree and the Nico de Boinville-ridden horse is odds-on across the boards.

Currently trading as 4/1 second favorite in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle betting (and 12/1 in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle market), if there is a 2022 Cheltenham Festival winner in action on Saturday, Constitution Hill is probably it.

Aso’s Classy Touch to Tell

In the following contest, some wonderful stars of the past will line up for the Unibet sponsored Veterans’ Chase due off at 3.00 pm. Even the youngest runners in this field are 11. Final Nudge, a last-time-out winner, is the oldest at 13.

Most of the field has won a major race of some kind during their careers. Potters Corner, the 2019 Welsh Grand National winner, is the most notable. However, he has failed to win since and so clear preference is for Aso.

Runner-up in the 2019 Ryanair Chase, the Venetia Williams-trained 12-year-old has been placed in half of his 32 chase starts. A six-time contestant at the Cheltenham Festival that ran in last year’s Gold Cup, Aso still has a touch of class and can prove it on Saturday.

Suggested Bets:

A win yankee and an each-way single on Grey Diamond.