JUMPS Racing - March 1st

[georgeCOSTANZA]

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[TR] [TD]Sport[/TD] [TD] Horse Racing [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 150]Event[/TD] [TD] Ludlow 4:30 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 150]Selection[/TD] [TD] Hit The Headlines [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 150]Strength[/TD] [TD] 2/10 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 150]Date[/TD] [TD] 01/03/2012 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bookmaker/Price[/TD] [TD] Paddy Power @ 3.75 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Reasoning[/TD] [TD] Unexposed type coming out of a top yard. Won hurdling debut at huntingdon last December and placed 3rd at Kempton in January. Will have more to come with this only his fifth career start. Owned by Michael Buckley and trained by Nicky Henderson with jockey Barry Geraghty booked to ride. They have a tough rival to face but I think they can beat him. The rival comes from Paul Nicholls' yard and he's not been the best trainer to follow at Ludlow this past 5 seasons with the form only at 3 wins from 30. Compare that to Henderons 38 wins from 102 the value goes to the selection. Geraghty is 12 from 30 at the track while Nicholls has a jockey change from Daryl Jacob LTO the inexperienced Harry Derham. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[Lars]

Re: JUMPS Racing - March 1st MARAAFEQ (16:00) looks thrown in here off effectively a mark of 106 now the Venetia Williams stable are in flying form, and with conditions to suit, even a vastly cut price than the one available earlier in the evening is still value. The selection was a very decent hurdler, rated as high as 128 at his peak. He hasn’t hit those levels as a chaser yet, but won over today’s identical conditions in a Beginners Chase at this time last year, scoring quite easily and although his jumping was a little sporadic at times, looked to be capable of running to a similar level than his hurdling form in due course. He wasn’t in the same form subsequently that season, but shaped with plenty of promise on his second start back from a break in this campaign over this C&D. Although looking for a time that he was going to be tailed off, he plugged on quite well and looking like he’d potentially come on a ton for some headgear applied, alongside the fact it was a run in November, traditionally a very slow month for the Venetia Williams stable. Brought down when jumping adequately last time, it was too early to tell how well he’d have done but he hasn’t been seen for 81 days, so will have been given time to get over what looked a fairly nasty tumble. This is a competitive enough heat today, with plenty of last time out winners entering the fray. However, even though 7/1 on the face of things may not look “value” given the bare form of Maraafeq, Venetia Williams stable are in flying form at present, an effective mark of 106 looks extremely workable and there’s no problems with conditions, as he’s won on good ground around Ludlow over this trip in the past. He’s capable of further improvement from the bottom of the handicap and will have probably been targeted this race, especially as there’s a fair amount of prize money at stake and I’ll be very surprised to see a poor effort on his behalf. Bets 16:00 Ludlow – Maraafeq; 2pts @ 7/1 William Hill (bog)