Your avatar can win this. Both father and son quite bullish. He either stays or he doesn't, and if he does he can put it up to Long Run.
River Maigue is a lay for me at 8/11, I thought the Dodging Bullets race was very dodgy in terms of pace and the winner won with any amount in hand giving weight. Trainers like to unleash their best types on these sort of days and the heavy ground means that form goes somewhat out of the window.
Little e/w dabble on Asker for me in the first at Kempton. Very interesting to see how the ground is riding, but surely it will get worse as the day wears on?
Ground looks fine - not holding or sticky. Looks more like soft than heavy to me. Good start for fav backers.
Happy Boxing Day guys short price sting on today MAJURO 2.10 wolves 5/4 there will be a jockey change 5 mins before the off kirby will jump aboard good luck if you play
The King George I have between two animals: GRANDS CRUS 8/1 See the writeup from the other day: 'Pulled up' is not a true reflection of the way he ran in the Paddy Power. It was very testing and all horses who were held up struggled that day. Grands Crus travelled very well into contention and as they were freewheeling down the hill it looked like he would go very close indeed. I do not for a minute think Cheltenham is his track for staying chases- he got away with the stamina side of things in a World Hurdle but they dont really go a mental clip in that race so he could get away with it. So many good horses struggle in the Paddy Power race- remember LONG RUN himself could not win the Paddy Power yet hosed up in the King George! I was worried about the wind op taking a run to get him right but the Pipe team seem really bullish about him and they made it clear that if he was not 100% and showing the right signs, he would not run. I have to believe what they say there because they have always been sensible with the horse, no more so than when they resisted the temptation of a Gold Cup last year. As far as I can see, only Grands Crus and Cue Card are the horses who would be totally happy going from the front in this race, and Grands Crus is the better jumper. I take Grands Crus to take the lead a mile from home and run the finish out of them all with Long Runs untidy style ultimately costing him again. He will stay better than Cue Card, who I love to bits but he doesn't look quite ready for a 3m soft ground race just yet. He will get the trip sooner rather than later though. The real high class stayers are absent and I think Grands Crus might just be able to take the race by the scruff of the neck- are Giant Bolster, Captain Chris, and Cue Card honestly the types to stay on past an on song Grands Crus? A flat track at Kempton suits horses with natural speed and exuberance and if he takes up the running he may well go very close. It is a risk we take but Pipe will have him ready. CAPTAIN CHRIS 16/1- I have had a sizeable bet on Captain Chris because I think he was a shadow of himself last season, he has been sensibly campaigned with this in mind this season, has form that puts him bang in the reckoning and loves going right handed. Any stamina doubts for me were ereased with his remarkable staying on 4th in the Ryanair. The reason I say remarkable is that he jumped RIGHT almost the whole way round! He lost so much distance in the air and for me the fact he got within 6L of Riverside Theatre tells me that if he turns up to Kempton on song today and jumps near his best, he will be bang in the reckoning. As such, 16/1 simply had to be taken. I am very confident he will stay- he was all over the place this time last year mentally after his fall at Exeter but he looked like there was a bit of old confidence back about him at Ascot, and he looked like he would come on for that. I'm expecting the Hobbs yard to start firing over the next couple of weeks. He is a very, very good horse on his day. I think an on song Grands Crus would just about be able to steal this from the front if he looks to take up the running, but if not I do think Captain Chris might be staying on strongly this time around if the Hobbs team have built him back up steadily to his best. Long Run looks very, very vulnerable to me against some very, very quick horses and if they all jump well, he will have a serious job catching them. I think he has looked one-paced and below par for his last 3 starts now, and I think it is no coincidence that the bookies were offering up tempting prices for him- I think there is enough here to see him off provided the second season chasers jump well.
