
We move on to Thursday's racing, where I was hoping to have three selections for you, but unfortunately, one of those has been made a non-runner so we are down to two. However, they both have good chances in their respective races and both look way ahead of their current Handicap marks to me. Both run at the evening Jumps meeting at Worcester, a course where I have a decent record with my selections, so let’s hope this pair can add to the tally.
There is some great racing coming up for the rest of the week too. On Friday, I’m hoping to bring you a Lucky 15 coming from a selection of meetings, and then at the weekend we have some excellent Group racing to get stuck into. The action gets started at the Curragh, with the Group 1 Irish Oaks. We also have The Curragh Stakes and The Sapphire Cup, which are both Group 2s, and then over at Newbury we have the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes, so there’s a lot to look forward to.
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This Handicap Chase looks all set to be a race of tactics, and there are a few interesting contenders in the lineup. One horse I won't be backing is Lermoos Legend, who has been badly out of form recently and needs much further than this trip. It seems likely that connections are using this race as a confidence booster, and Sean Bowen will probably ride him prominently from the front, but this gelding performs best over distances closer to three miles. On the other hand, Kauto The King, running for the Tizzards, has a strong chance despite conceding weight to the field. That said, he is now running 10lbs below his latest winning mark, so I think he’ll enjoy this challenge and is sure to put on a bold show.
However, I am siding with
Neigh Botha, for the Greenall and Guerriero team, who is a rather nice improver for connections. He ran well last term without winning, but
he took a big step forward on his seasonal debut at Southwell, looking ready to show us plenty more. He is a typically strong traveller and he jumped much better last time out than he managed for all of last season too. That was his first run since December and he should have come on plenty for it, making him the most appealing option in this field.
My second Worcester selection runs in the final race of the day, and again, there are several here with chances. The two course and distance winners, Indian Sunbird and No Way Pedro, obviously make some appeal. Indian Sunbird was a surprise winner last time out, and although he won easily, a few things went wrong for his rivals that day, so you could perhaps say he was just fortunate. He has gone up 6lbs for that win though and would need to find more to win this race. No Way Pedro travelled like a good horse when winning last time out and had been getting his act together before that, so it was less of a surprise. However, he has also gone up by 7lbs here and may well struggle.
So, the one I’m going for is Dan Skelton’s Hugueneau. He finished fourth behind Indian Sunbird last time out, but made three really bad mistakes early on, so it was always going to be tough from there. However, he did stay on quite nicely and could still be way ahead of the handicapper here. He is a strong travelling sort who won’t mind a bit of rain and provided he jumps better, he has to be in the mix. I believe he has a great chance of showing us his true ability on his second run over this extended trip.
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