Ok, a bit more about the race whilst I have a few moments. Firstly the french named one has worked in the same lot as my little share, and from what I’ve seen she looks a nice type who tries quite hard on the gallops. She has a nice way about her and when I went up last week they were happy with the work she had done that morning. I know that they were hoping for a lower mark for her, but that is always the case!! One of the others in the same syndicate as myself owns a share in the Nick Williams horse and this has been the target for a while. She ran a corker last time out and I’d be surprised to see many beat her here. Then Crossgalesfamegame hacked up in a decent enough race last time, has a decent handicap mark and could well continue the upward curve. I prefer her to the other two to be honest but it’s a competitive race and intriguing to say the least.
Heres my attempt for what its worth: 12:15 - Timberman 11/4 12:50 - Viva Vittoria 12/1 1:20 - Silva Eclipse 7/1 1:50 - Grand Sancy 4/1 2:25 - Malaya 4/1 3:00 - Defi Du Seuil 13/8 (I'd have it odds on if not for jockey) 3:35 - Classic Ben 11/2 Enjoy your day
Not surprised the racing never made it onto ITV 1, woeful stuff. Have to go with Grand Sancy in that shocker of a G1 Novice chase, not surprised Nicholls has pitched him in on debut looking at that field, have always liked Politologue and easy for me to stick with him today at the prices.
Really good day of competitive racing today and always nice to see them jumping the national fences. Am sticking with the horses for courses theory over national fences with Vieux lion rouge in 1.30 and Ultragold at 3.15. Totally agree that the Tingle Creek could be a great race and wouldn’t rule any out but going for Ornua for a front runner and Janika for the closers.
1:30 Aintree - As De Mee 14/1. Ran well for a long time last time out after a lay off. The owner spoke before the race and was adamant that it wouldn't be winning so was obviously just to blow away the cobwebs and get in a safe round of jumping. Should be spot on for today and makes great appeal at the price.
Emma and Ben Jones team up at chepstow with Down The Highway , will find this more suitable than last time ! FoB also runs diamond Fort in this as well , may do a R/F 2 30 Chepstow !
Some great racing on today...and always a spectacle to see horses take on the national fences. 3 bets today: Sandown 3pm Politologue 9/2. Whether he 'll be good enough to beat Defi du seiul I am not so sure but this could be his favourite track. Only previous visit to the track he won the race in 2017. 2nd run after a wind op..softish ground too which will help as he stays further and the race likely to be run at a pace so I can see a massive run with him staying on at the end.. Aintree 3.15pm Federici 12/1 e.w 4 places. Has form over the Aintree fences and is on a nice low weight. This might have been a bit of a plot job from his trainer. Sandown 3.35pm Shanroe Santos 10/1 e.w. Was well fancied for this race last year and on a decent mark now. I like the booking of Brian Hughes and this will be his second run following a recent wind op. I did like Dark Flame in this but just a bit worried about the bounce factor so siding with this fella. Good luck all
Nice day of sporting action today. The main Yorkshire derby kicks off in over an hour , the racing and then the Manc derby, followed by the boxing later on. A few nice races on the Navan card here in Ireland, very tricky at first glance, a few decent horses switching back to hurdles from chasing and vice versa. Whisperinthebreeze was one that immediately caught my eye for Jessica Harrington in the Grade B chase at 2.45, If getting loose on the front end he could be hard to reign in.
I'll answer for him FP - a fecking good ew at 22-1 Good morning peeps, looking forward to some great jumps racing this afty
made it in time for the first - just walked over the course and it appears to be drying quickly in the wind
I thought Torpillo might have a shout in the Triumph Hurdle last season but he was woeful behind Quel Destin in the Victor Ludorum, swiftly ending any hope of Festival Glory. He had gone into the trial rated 145, which looked over the top, along with the ratings of fellow juveniles Quel Destin and Anjali who were on 146 and 147 early last season. Considering that Torpillo looked poorly handicapped, it was unwise looking to my eyes to have run him in the Fred Winter with his slightly lower mark of 141 which meant he had to carry top weight of 11st 10lb in the juveniles handicap race. It just seemed a fools errand from a poor looking mark. There is still time for Torpillo as a young horse and he comes here with a lot of positives after a good win last time. There is just a lingering sense of disappointment for me with Torpillo from last season and he's favourite today, so I wanted to weigh up some of the others. Summerville Boy is a Festival winner from the past and a talented hurdler. He could make a good chaser but he's had injury problems in the past and that dampens entusiasm to some extent. Nuba Negra has taken well to chasing and is a good jumper so far. He wasn't as good as several of these over hurdles but we have seen fences turn the form around before now. I feel he won won two weak races thus far though and this will be a lot tougher. He turned over the odds-on Ballymoy but that horse went on to be beaten two further times by 12 lengths each time and was odds-on on both occasions. I don't like the look of the form. Grand Sancy won the Kingwell last season and recently ran second to Fusil Raffles. On hurdle ratings he should be right in the mix but perhaps his rating is a shade flattering in retrospect. With no chase experience he will need to be pretty decent to beat this field. Having backed Summerville Boy when he won the Supreme, I do feel that he owes me nothing. 10 other horses have won from the Supreme Novices, including Lostintranslation and Kalashnikov, so it sets a solid standard. In comparison we have Torpillo who has less questions but who wasn't so hot as a hurdler. Torpillo gets 6 lbs from the others and is likely to try to dominate and maximise his weight concession. In the end I couldn't get away from Summerville Boy. He was out of sorts a bit last season after an injury but he was keeping very strong company and I could not have envisaged Torpillo coping in the races Summerville Boy was running in last season. There is a bounce question but at 10/3 I believe that the risk is worth taking. I may well be wrong but I don't find Nuba Negra's form appealing and I suspect he can not concede 6 lbs to Torpillo. The Twiston-Davies horse is popular this morning while Summerville Boy and Nuba Negra are a little uneasy. Grand Sancy is quite stable in the betting. 1.50 Sandown Summerville Boy 10/3 I also stuck a fiver on Summerville Boy at 25/1 for the Arkle simply because I have no selection for the race yet and he is still a horse with potential.