Jumps Racing : Friday. 14 January

[georgeCOSTANZA]

Sport	Horse Racing
Event	Huntingdon 13:40
Selection	Spirit Son
Strength	10/10
Date	14/01/2011
Bookmaker/Price	Bet365 @ 0.00
Reasoning	Won Listed French 4yo hurdle at Auteuil (2m2f, soft) in September 2010. He won by a nose the hard way having to be 1 3/4 lengths down in the run-in and ran on under pressure the last 150yds. British debut today and trained by Nicky Henderson with jockey Barry Geraghty scheduled to ride. Henderson have 19 wins from 37 hurdlers here the last 5 seasons. 3 out of 4 for the 2010-2011 season. Owner is Michael Buckley, winner of 10 from 16 runs with novice hurdlers the last 5 seasons. All trained by Henderson and with Geraghty on board boosts a 50% strike rate from 18 (all hurdling runs).

[Monterosso]

Re: Jumps Racing : Friday. 14 January 3:20 Musselburgh This is a 3 mile handicap chase on very testing ground in which it may be smart to side with horses who stay well, handle conditions and don't carry too much weight. The first horse who caught my eye was the Donald McCain trained, Ballabrook. He comes here on the back of one of his better performances to date, when staying on very strongly from a long way back in a 3m 2f chase at Catterick back in December. That was on relatively good ground, which isn't ideal for this 9 year old stayer. Jason Maguire also gave him a very relaxed ride and didn't push the button until the race was lost, but when he did, the horse ate up the ground to finish a 12 length 3rd. I think a more positive ride will pave the way for this maiden chaser to get his first victory over the larger obstacles, having seen his only 2 career wins to date come over hurdles. Conditions today will be significantly more favourable and with a bit of luck, he should be bang in contention at the business end of proceedings. I can't see any chance of excessive pace here and that may just play into his hands, as he can guess at a few fences so jumping under less pressure will be in his favour. He's not the quickest horse in the world and usually I'd think a strong gallop would be ideal, but he ran on very well under little pressure last time out and a similar effort could suffice here, especially in ground as testing as this. Both of his hurdle wins came when the going had "soft" in it. One of those was in quite testing conditions at Catterick, where he ran out a relatively easy winner over 2m 3f, so he seems to have the toe at shorter distances on soft ground, which suggests to me that he could do it over 3m on the back of a slow gallop, plus he's unexposed at the trip having only went 3 miles or further on his last 2 starts, resulting in a 2nd and 3rd place. He'll also only carry 10st 10lbs, which will come in handy when the going gets though. Interestingly, Donald McCain is traveling nearly 500 miles to the course, just bringing Ballabrook with him, that's significant in my eyes and I believe they may have found the ideal race to get him off the mark. Maguire has a 20% strike rate over fences at Musselburgh and hasn't ridden here since February of last year, so I feel it's significant that he comes for just 2 rides, the other being a maiden who I wouldn't consider in with a great chance. I'll be having a small to medium win bet on this fellow at odds of 13/2 which are very tasty indeed. He's marked down as a fair 4/1 shot in my book and I expect the price will be closer to my expectations come race time. The one I feel worthy of having a saver on is the prolific Point-to-Point winning Irish raider, Bally Wall. He looks well handicapped on his best form under rules and is now just 3lbs higher than when winning impressively at Ayr back in April of last year, in what was a very competitive class 2 novice handicap which has thrown up many talented horses in the past. He's a very game type who often sees out his races very well and is at home in these testing conditions. Going a slow gallop will also be in this horses favour and I very much doubt that his trainer is bringing him over from Ireland for nothing. Andrew Lynch takes the ride and he's a jockey I rate quite highly. He visits the track for the first time and only rides 2 horses, the other is one I wouldn't expect to win. Lynch partnered this 8 year old for the 4th time and he was the man who got him to gain his only success under rules so far. Bally Wall ran decently over hurdles last time out to come a close 2nd of 4, that was his first hurdle start and I'd assume it was a prep race to preserve his chase mark and have him ready for this relatively weak encounter. The 11/2 looks good to me, he's a 9/2 shot in my book and I'm expecting he'll make a brave bid alongside my other selection. Small bet as a saver for my main selection. Selections : Ballabrook - 2pts @ 13/2 (Bet365) Bally Wall - 1pt @ 11/2 (Bet365)