Wincanton 14/2

[Spooner]

14:40 - Ashkazar I was on Ashkazar LTO but he disappointed, here is what I wrote: 'Ashkazar 2nd in the Fred Winter's Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham back in March looks very good form, Beaten two lengths by Crack Away Jack who was only beaten 1L by Chomba Womba last time out. He is a three times winner over this distance in five runs. Trainer won this race back in 2006 with Acambo, Timmy Murphy was on board who is the jockey tomorrow. A cracking e/w bet at the moment, I can see him going off favourite.' He did go off favourite but was nowhere to be seen after looking ok 3 out but weakend very easily, Now as mentioned in other posts Pipe's stable is back in form and im willing to give Ashkazar another crack today. 4/1 Bet365 (bog)

[WoodyTHFC]

Re: Wincanton 14/2 2.40 Ashkazar 7/2 boy bog 15 pts Going for a slight upset here with Askhazar for the inform Pipe’s to turn over Punjabi. Punjabi is a class act and at his best will be hard to beat but Im not convinced he will be at his best on this ground plus his trainer has indicated he is likely to have his main foucs as the CH and this run will bring him on for that. Ashkazar is arguably running his CH race today. If he didn’t run well here he may end up in a handicap somewhere and not the CH. Now on OR Pipe’s horse has it to find but Im not quite sure he has that much to find. Last season Ashkazar was part of what has been a vintage group of 4 year olds and he built on a decent flat career over hurdles. He won nicely here and also twice at san including the imperial cup. His second to CAJ was a fine effort especially as that one boosted that form earlier this season plus there are some thoughts that the race wasn’t made to totally suit Ashkazar in that being prominent in what turned out to be a really gruelling test for 4 year olds was difficult to sustain and Ashkazar did by far best of those up front. Also he may have not been 100% only racing a couple of days after winning the imperial cup. Of course there is a blot for Pipe’s runner in that he was very poor lto but the Pipe’s are generally in much better form now so Im half prepared to forgive that run although it is a concern. However I think he has a good chance today with the ground fine judging by bits of his flat form in france on what seemed a genuine going description. 3.10 Mendo 10/1 sj bog 7.5 pts e.w I feel this horse is much better over hurdles than fences. His record shows that because he seems unable to complete a chase race atm but when he goes over hurdles his form is much more solid. He notched up a sequence of hurdle wins no to long ago and also has run some very good races in really competitive handicaps such as the coral cup where he was good fourth and in a few graded races. He hasn’t quite done it as much this season but he didn’t run that badly when midfield at chelt on his last hurdle start where being hampered did him no favours in a race that has worked out quite well. He likes soft ground and whilst heavy is unknown I think he will handle it indeed when he won at the open meeting two years back it was arguably riding heavy that day. 4.10 Fistral beach 5/6 var 15pts Touted PN runner who won in a bumper last year and has twice been second in useful contests over hurdles. Once he bumped into belcantista who proved his undoubted ability afterwards in the Ladbroke so a defeat to him was no disgrace at all especially considering he was a bit clear of the rest. After that he bumped into midnight sail who did little afterwards himself but once again the pair were clear suggesting fistral beach may have just found one too good on the day whilst still running well. He enters handicaps today for the first time off 128 and its possible he could turn out to be a fair bit better than that and he might just prove that today.