13:30 Ludlow
Magic Dancer has proved consistent over fences and was only beaten just over a length at Newton Abbot last time out, however is still seeking to add to his debut victory despite slowly coming down the weights, while Kakamora won his last two over hurdles last season and since going chasing this season has posted results of 33333 but is another who is yet to take advantage of a lowering mark.
Yccs Portocervo is more than capable if arriving on a going day and should strip fitter for his re-appearance at Leicester last month, however for the winner we turn to Red Happy who has notched a quick-fire treble in the last few weeks and races for a stable who continue in fantastic form. There is a risk that a fourth run within such a short period of time could catch him out, however both he, his stable and jockey are clearly thriving at present so he looks the one to follow again here.
RED HAPPY (WIN) 17:16 Perth
Beep Beep represents the shrewd and mighty connections of Nigel Twiston-Davies and Zac Baker, who have previously won this race together. He’s unexposed but has been steadily improving. That being said, he’s hasn’t got fantastic form and looks harshly treated for his handicap debut. Additionally, he’s yet to be proven over the three miles trip today. He seems an opposable favourite.
Olly Murphy is worth following over hurdles and boasts an impressive strike rate at Perth. He runs World Trip, who was successful in this race last year. She’s won at Huntingdon two starts ago but had a hard race, when last seen at Wetherby, towards the end of March. Moreover, she runs off a stone higher than when she won this race last year. It seems a difficult ask.
Lucinda Russell doesn’t have a particularly great strike rate in hurdle races at Perth but her Emirat De Catana is worth a second glance. He will stay the long run in and has won over course and distance before. His jockey, Molly Landau, is in rather good form and he carries very little weight. He could be worth chancing today.
EMIRAT DE CATANA (WIN)
18:10 Salisbury
With the flat season now firmly underway we head to Salisbury to take in a Novice race that could prove an informative affair for the months ahead. Samburu was a ready winner on debut at Yarmouth in October, quickening nicely to breeze past rivals and win by almost two lengths under a mainly hands and heels ride. The race has produced a number of subsequent winners, most notably Tranquil Night who has since gone unbeaten in three, so the Kingman colt should be capable of taking a race such as this despite the 7lbs penalty he carries for that debut victory.
The main challenger looks to be Neptunian who won on the all-weather at Newcastle when last seen in October, building on a solid enough debut fifth at Newbury the month before. He steps up in trip for todays’ race but that could bring about further improvement and for that reason he commands plenty of respect.
Another worthy of mention is Naranco who represents the Ralph Beckett stable who won a division of this race in 2019 and 2021. He was only a half-length behind the aforementioned Tranquil Night on his racecourse debut at Kempton in January and ran an encouraging fourth on turf debut at Leicester earlier in the month, hitting the front only to be reeled in within the final 100 yards. That came in soft ground and I expect he will benefit from todays’ faster surface, however he also looks like a bit of a work in progress so feel he may need another couple of runs before reaching his peak.
SAMBURU (WIN) 19:40 Salisbury
Eagle One is one of a handful of runners who have covered this amount of turf previously. He’s only ran on turf four times and shoulders a large weight today but he did perform admirably well on his sole start here, going down by a head over the same distance last August. You’d imagine he’ll run creditably well again.
Mr Tambourine Man looks like he stands a good chance at first view and could be nicely handicapped. National Hunt trainers have a decent record in this race and this horse could be on song. Tom Marquand is a good booking and you can understand why he’s the favourite. The only concern would be that his victory over hurdles was over nearly a mile further.
Salochana looks to be more value though. She won this race last year and her trainer, Hughie Morrison, has twice taken the gold in this race previously. Richard Kingscote is in very good form and you would be very surprised if she didn’t give a good account of herself today. You would think she would shorten up before the race.
SALOCHANA (WIN)
written by Dean Kilbryde & Kieran McHugh
Comments