Hunter Chase - 5.00 Haydock

[Darran]

More profit on Friday and again I will catch up on looking back at the action once today's race is out of the way. It is a shame that the sponsors have got rid of the Walrus part of the race title, but there we go. As usual there it is a quality looking race which will see changes on the Cheltenham market (speaking of races which has had their name changed!)

Having backed Bob And Co for Cheltenham I am clearly looking for a big run and I am pretty confident he will win. Paul Nicholls shares my confidence as well and as I mentioned on my Cheltenham thread he thinks the wind op has improved him. If that really is the case then he is going to be a big player next month given he was already the top rated pointer/hunter chaser from last season. It should also help him stay better than he looked like he would last season. He settled so much better at Bangor and Fontwell than he did at Warwick when he pulled his owners arms out the whole way. I guess the concern is he does that again first time up, but at least this time he has a pro jockey on which will help if he is that keen again. This looks the perfect race to set him up for Cheltenham in a months time.

A good run from The Worlds End would obviously be a boost for the Highway Jewel form so hopefully he runs well, but clearly connections are trying to get him qualified for Cheltenham so a 1st 4 finish will be enough and after a fairly tough race at Warwick they surely won't be over hard on him if they don't need to be. Even so I think Bob And Co can give him 8lbs anyway.

I thought Wishing And Hoping might have got beaten at Catterick earlier in the week and it is hard to see how the ground here is going to be much different to the ground at Catterick. He was beaten by Alcala in this race last year and given the form of his two runs this season aren't as good as the form he showed last season I just don't see how he can win this.

No doubt the trainer will be backing Ravished and the slight drop in trip will help. He ran really well at Ludlow and I am sure he will run well here, but I just don't see how he can beat Bob And Co.

Ennistown is the only other one worth a mention and although he has ground to make up on Ravished on that Ludlow run he was a big eye-catcher that day. It actually wouldn't surprise me if he finished in the first 3 although and they could have found an easier race to qualify for Cheltenham or Aintree, but that could be a sign that connections are expecting a big run from him. He could be one for the betting without markets. Ultimately though I can't see past Bob And Co. 

Bob And Co 3pts @ 11/8 with most bookies

[paceman]

Very competant!

[Darran]

Apart from the fact there was scope for improvement in the jumping department, that was more than we could have hoped for with Bob And Co with Cheltenham in mind. As he showed last year he clearly has a serious engine and he looked to have plenty up his sleeve. I think Wishing And Hoping has run his best race of the season and he's not got close to him. I suspect once The Worlds End was beaten his jockey eased up on him so he didn't have a hard race (impossible to tell as he's out of shot for most of the straight), but even so he's miles back in 3rd and Ravished has ended up pulling up. That means that the horse who Hazel Hill beat at Ludlow hasn't even completed and the horse who was 3rd to Highway Jewel and Latenightpass has been hammered. Obviously his jumping could have been better, but he never really looked like falling. He jumped some really well and the mistakes and jumping out to his left clearly didn't stop him. What I was happy to see was that he settled well and there was no repeat of his Warwick antics. He also proved he doesn't have to lead. This is clearly the best hunter chase performance we have seen this season and in my view he should be favourite. I think he's a better horse than Billaway and I really do think he wins at Cheltenham. His price ranges from 6/1-8/1 and I think that is on the large side. Finally if you took Betfair SP then you had one hell of a bet given he returned at just about 2/1 on the exchange compared to an SP of just 11/8. The fact that The Worlds End was sent off fav on Betfair is staggering to me.

Wishing And Hoping is clearly capable of winning more races, but hard to know if connections will both trying to take on the winner again or not at Cheltenham. I'd maybe wait for Aintree with him. As for The Worlds End he is now qualified and I suspect the fact he had a hard race at Warwick didn't help him here, but he clearly wont be winning at Cheltenham so I guess connections could look at winning some lesser hunter chases with him or possibly target Stratford with him which to me would be a more realistic target.

Ravished led, but was a spent force from a fair way out. Ennistown was disappointing, but I would give him another chance at a lesser level. Garde Ville ran a nice race though and would have finished 4th if he hadn't been pulled up down the straight. That was his first start since 2019 so he should come on for that and is one to keep an eye on should he face lesser rivals next time.

[Darran]

Let's now go back to Thursday and the two divisions of the Novices' contest at Leicester. 

The 1st division looked the stronger beforehand and I think that turned out to be the case. I thought Harry Cobden gave Chameron a very smart ride as he allowed Cousin Pascal to go on down the straight and he didn't panic. In the end he won by just over 2L and his jockey suggested after the race that he didn't enjoy the ground so I suspect there is more to come. It was also good to see his trainer gain a winner from his first runner after taking over from his wife. Cousin Pascal has run a hell of a race in 2nd and he isn't always going to bump into one as good as Chameron. they finished miles clear of the 3rd Envoye Special who in turn was miles clear of the only other finisher. I don't think the 3rd stayed in the ground, but he travelled pretty well into the race and I do think he is one to keep in mind for future contests. Matts Commission got very tired after also travelling quite well into the race and he should improve for the run.

Premier Magic had to work very hard to win division 2 which surprised me because I thought he would win very easily. I guess the ground was probably to blame for that one, but it does make me question the worth of the form. No Limitations was the one to make the favourite pull out all the stops and it was a personal best effort. As suspected I'm Wiser Now ran well without winning despite the fact he is still a maiden and I would be happy to continue taking him on for win purposes. 

Onto Friday and starting with the Fakenham race. I was really impressed with Dubai Quest and Bridget did amazingly well to sit a mistake and then to get her iron back which isn't an easy thing to do round a tight track like Fakenham. He looked a possible John Corbett Cup contender to me. Getting Closer didn't really jump well enough, but if he get his act together on that front he could well find a winning opportunity. Rocklander looked a sitting duck for the winner when he departed as his jumping to his right had got pretty bad by that stage. 

Rocklander's trainer Dale Peters had much better luck at Kelso though as his Kilkishen did it well to win on his first start for him. I think the form is solid enough and he could easily add to this victory during the season. Senor Lombardy landed the e/w money for us and he gave it his all, but wasn't quite good enough. That's two nice races he's run now though and surely he will get his opportunity to win a hunter chase this season. It was over 50L back to the 3rd African Belle who was pretty free and tired badly after being headed. Kalabaloo was the big disappointment though and I was never really that happy with the way she was travelling. I suspect the ground was to blame and she can do better on a better surface. What a shame for Tango De Juilley's connections that he unseated at the 1st after so long off the track. He was quite well backed before the race which was interesting.

Next up we have Wetherby on Tuesday, Doncaster on Wednesday and then Fontwell next Sunday which is the last chance for horses to qualify for Cheltenham, but apart from Sametegal I can't really think of what else needs to now.