Hi all,
Happy Christmas, and hope everyone has had a lovely day including those that don’t celebrate Christmas.
It’s a feast of racing over the next week or so and the best of it can be seen live on ITV. Today’s selections are from Wetherby, Wincanton, Market Rasen and Newcastle.
Wetherby
2:45 – Schiehallion Munro – 100/30 @ Bet365 – A three time course winner who won this race 12 months ago and followed up here in February of today’s mark. The 9-year-old made an solid return to action on seasonal reappearance and was still going well enough when unseating his rider in better race at Aintree earlier this month.
Wincanton
1:28 – Sizable Sam – 3/1 @ Coral & Ladbrokes – Hadn’t run particularly well on first two starts over fences last season. However, there was much to like about his neck 2nd of 11 at Exeter (good to soft) last month. Nudged up 3lb for that effort but is 1lb below his winning mark over hurdles. Softer ground will suit the 7-year-old better as will a return to Wincanton where his form figures are 22111.
Market Rasen
1:47 – Poker Master – 4/1 – Gen – An improving handicap hurdler since pulling up at Southwell in January winning five of his last six starts including the last two over C&D. Up 4lb for the latest of those successes 22-days ago which makes life tougher but could be up to the task.
Newcastle
2:35 – Heroique De Maulde – 3/1 @ Bet365 – Won twice over fences when trained in France and was an encouraging short-head 2nd of 7 over C&D on debut for James Ewart last month. The winner has gone in again since so the form is working out nicely and he shouldn’t be far away from 4lb higher.
Cheers
John