Kempton - 26Jan09

[PL2008]

Kempton 2:05 Itsa Legend Won lto, 11Dec08, after being off since 29Mar08. It was also his chase debut. Rallied late in the race to win by a short-head to Big Fella Thanks. BFT won Saturday by 11 lengths to in a Listed event at Doncaster. Itsa Legend will have no problem with the distance as he'd shown when hurdling. The soft ground should also suit with his last run being on Soft and he's also won on the going when hurdling. Lto jockey Wayne Hutchinson is replaced by Robert Thornton today. 10pts to win

[NMc106]

Re: Kempton - 26Jan09 13-00 Hurdle

Riverside Theatre put in 3 fantastic runs in bumpers winning 2 of them and finishing 3^rd in the other behind very competent opponents in Diamond Harry and Shalone. He was 2^nd on his hurdling debut, beaten by a good 14L by Copper Bleu who is potentially another very handy type. The soft ground mightn’t be ideal for him as he probably prefers real good ground so that is a downside. Henderson has a great record here at Kempton winning 26% of his races and a good run could see him improve that record here, he is pretty good nick just now but Nicholls is right back on form with 2 great winners at Cheltenham.

Al Amaan won 1 from 8 starts on the flat over in France and a good run is expected by connections here and I'm not brave enough to oppose him just in case he does put in an expected good run. Nicholls got back to form at Cheltenham on Saturday when we saw Big Fella Thanks and Big Bucks both come up with excellent wins. He that wasn’t the case I probably would have preferred Riverside Theatre but based on that Al Amaan gets the nod here, he has been gelded since lto which is also a positive.

Selection: Al Amaan - 10pts Win @ 11/4

14-05 Chase

Au Courant is unbeaten from his 3 runs; 1 bumper; 1 hurdle and most recently 1 chase. He won his chase debut which included Quickbeam but he fell and probably would have won if he had stayed on his feet. An improved performance willl certainly be needed if he is to keep his unbeaten record going as this is a close race and could take a bit of winning. The ground will suit as 2 of his 3 runs have came on softer ground but he does step up to the 3 mile mark having only previously ran 4 miles 4½ furlongs.

Itsa Legend is rated 2lbs higher than Au Courant and runs off the same weight so should be in, but he failed to run well off a similar mark over hurdles last season and was a big disappointment. Made his chase debut lto beating the now in-form Big Fella Thanks though I refuse to take that form as it stands as Big Fella Thanks ran extremely poorly and I'm not sure what was wrong with Nicholls’ runner during the race. So although he won his chase debut he will have to improve here and I would rate him as 3^rd best in this field behind Au Courant and

Lodge Lane

.

Lodge Lane

has won 6 of his 8 starts with the failed attempts coming from Cheltenham in very good quality races where he really didn’t have much chance. Has 1 run under his belt this season in which he comfortably beat Wichita Lineman by 7L. That was his chase debut and he did jump soundly throughout apart from a couple of errors but nothing to seriously get worried about. He is sure to improve for that run and he will probably have ironed out his slight jumping flaws and so I expect him to comfortably take this. The ground and distance will pose no problem as soft ground is certainly his thing. Perfect consitions for him here and I'm sure he’ll make it 2 out of 2 over fences. Currently 20/1 in an open market for Royal & Sun Alliance and although he has only ever been beaten at Cheltenham I fancy him to do quite well in the RSA.

Selection: Lodge Lane - 10pts Win @ Evs 15-50 Chase

Pop Ahead is 8lbs up for his narrow victory lto and I feel he may struggle here as although he has shown promise he seems to be a tad inconsistent at times. Tony McCoy on board is a positive as he seems to have gotten the best out of him on the couple of runs hes had on him. Also drops back down to 20 furlongs here today which is probably his shortest distance though he does seem to run better when he has a little further. Trainer Jonjo has been in mixed form recently with places and a few being pulled up, he hasn’t a winner since the 17^th at Wincanton.

Just Jaffa could be well handicapped here on his seasonal debut as he runs only 4lbs higher than his last win over fences but he does run with a 3lbs claimer today which should also help and Coleman is certainly a pretty good jockey. He goes well on soft ground and this distance will be fine though could have done with a couple of extra furlongs but it isn’t too much of a problem. Venetia Williams had a winner at Cheltenham on the 24^th so could well be getting back into form and based on that Just Jaffa will be the selection. I shall only go E/W due to it being his season opener but he can certainly win this.

Selection: Just Jaffa - 5pts EW @ 11/2