Doncaster Racecourse: Preview and tips for Saturday’s meeting including Great Yorkshire Chase

Racing gets underway at 12.20pm with a Listed juvenile hurdle contest in class one before the terrific card comes to a close at 3.50pm with a class two handicap hurdle.

Read below to discover the latest tips and a full preview of Doncaster's card on Saturday courtesy of Racing TV, who offer the latest Cheltenham free bet offers ahead of the Festival in March.

The opening race on the card sees a field of seven head to the start for the Listed fillies’ juvenile hurdle, a class one contest over the two-mile and 128-yard trip worth a cool £22,780 to the winner (12.20). Belfrina’s form received a fine boost when Melon was victorious at Wetherby on Thursday and she is taken to get off the mark here for trainer David Pipe and get the better of Matwana, an impressive course and distance winner when last seen 27 days ago.

Race two of the afternoon (12.55) is a six-runner handicap chase in class three, where Grand Albert looks the way to go for the Donald McCain Jnr yard, a winner last time out at Wetherby and was very consistent prior to that with two seconds and another victory in four prior starts.

A class two handicap chase marks race three on the Doncaster card (1.30) and Nicky Richards’ Nells Son arrives at the track on top of his game and is backed to make it three wins from three runs this term at the expense of fellow hat-trick seeing runner Stormin Crossgales. Richards’ runner is up 5lb in the weights for his win at Kelso last month but that form has been franked further so he is a massive player once again here.

The first of the two Grade 2 contests on the Doncaster card is up next at 2.05 with eight runners tackling the River Don Novices’ Hurdle over the three-mile trip. Western Knight, trained by Joe Tizzard, overcame inexperience to win novice hurdles at Uttoxeter and Ascot and followed up with an excellent second over three miles in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham last month so looks the one to beat here. Of his seven rivals, Ma Shanout has her first go over three miles and rates the chief threat, bidding for a hat-trick after wins at Windsor and Warwick over the past couple of months.

The Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle is the second Grade 2 on the card and is race five of the day (2.40) with preference of the six-runner field heading the way of Katiera for the powerful Dan Skelton team. A winner of a big-field Aintree handicap to close last season and since scoring in a Listed contest at Kempton, adding to a good fifth in the Long Walk at Ascot last time out, the eight-year-old holds leading claims once again here and can get the better of Jetara, heading over from Ireland for trainer Jessica Harrington after a good third at Leopardstown last time out to return to some form.

The feature race of the day is the penultimate contest of Saturday’s meeting and a big field of 17 will head to the start for the Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase and battle it out for the top prize of £56,950 (3.15). This looks to be the perfect chance for The Changing Man from the Tizzard team to finally open his account over fences off the back of excellent second places at Newcastle and Ascot. The hat-trick seeking Tightenourbelts will have a big say however, as will the runner-up in this race last year, Forward Plan, a good third over course and distance six weeks ago for trainer Anthony Honeyball.

Finally, the card comes to a close with the class two handicap hurdle over two miles and three furlongs (3.50) and a field of eight look set to take it on. Preference in the finale heads the way of Punctuation for trainer Nicky Henderson, a seven-time winner for former trainer Fergal O’Brien now in the hands of the master handler from Lambourn who is taken to make a winning start on debut for his new team.

Doncaster selections - Saturday

12.20 - Belfrina

12.55 - Grand Albert

1.30 - Nells Son

2.05 - Western Knight

2.40 - Katiera

3.15 - The Changing Man

3.50 - Punctuation