What a superb card and what a pain in the arse that my Lieu day from work was today and not tomorrow!
Here are my selections:
12.10 Newbury: SPRINTER SACRE 4/7
Has looked a very, very good chaser in two starts so far. He was always though of in chasing terms and anything he achieved over hurdles was to be a bonus. It will be a very interesting comparison with Hold Fast tomorrow. It is almost strange to find the horse going to the Arkle priced at 4/7 and the horse going to the Champion Chase set to go off at around 5/1. If Sprinter Sacre is continuing to improve, he might be a very short price for the Arkle tomorrow evening. I think they will look to settle him a bit more tomorrow though.
12.40 Newbury: LONG RUN 1/2
Burton Port has a serious record fresh and I suspect he is the one for the forecast. Closely matched with Long Run on 2010 RSA form, but Long Run is a class act now, has had two runs this season to blow away any cobwebs and has been a very close 2nd to a magnificent Kauto Star at Kempton. If he gets into a jumping rhythm, he ought to win by 5 lengths or so.
1.15 Newbury: ZARKANDAR 11/4
This is a prep run and to some extent that is factored into his price. If this fella has improved from last season then he will be a very good hurdler this season and would be capable of winning this handicap off just 11 stone 1. It is a fantastic weight (for a horse who put the Triumph to bed very well and has had the form franked really nicely since) to run off, and if he is to be serious about challenging Hurricane Fly, then of course you would be expecting him to win this. But it is a big field, it could develop into a funny race, and he needs to first and foremost get round. If he has a bit of luck in running, I think he has the engine to put this to bed late on. But it wont be an on the bridle job- he is not that sort of horse.
2.55 Newbury: MOSSLEY 6/1
This fella is very much overpriced and he showed signs of improvement over fences when 2nd to Join Together at Cheltenham. He has been given a nice break, and that was a gruelling sort of race over 3m 2f at Cheltenham, which played to the strengths of the winner that day. 2 and a half miles round NEwbury ought to see him in a better light and at 6/1 I think you'll get a bold bid for your money, especially as For Non Stop is not the most reliable (though talented), whilst Cedre Bleu looked a fortunate winner LTO and Walkon could still yet be anything back at 2 and a half miles.
In the 3.30...Bumpers are nice to try and find value in but as a full brother to Grands Crus, Gevrey Chambertin is apparantly highly regarded (won by 30L on debut) and whilst we only really know their full talents much further down the line, it will be nice to see him up against some other nice horses today. Watching brief for me though.
