Princess Lir ran a cracker on Thursday and it looks like she bumped into a pretty useful sort in Mystra. She travelled and jumped well and the front two pulled a mile clear of the remainder. There are races to be won with her though the handicapper could tale a dim view of her effort on Thursday.
Saturday sees some decent action on both sides of the Irish sea but it has to be said that some of the field sizes are a little disappointing. Vautour takes on just 4 rivals at Ascot and barring accidents he should be hard to beat, although it will be interesting to see how Ptit Zig gets on against the Mullins hotpot.
The one I like goes in the Betfair handicap hurdle at 2.25 and looks sure to be suited by the return to soft ground. Low Key represents the David Pipe yard who have won this race 3 times in the last 5 seasons. Tom Scudamore is booked to ride his other entry, but the booking of red hot 7lb claimer David Noonan catches the eye on Low key who has had only the 7 starts over hurdles.
He has won two of them, both during the summer and on good ground at Stratford (18.5f) and Fontwell (19f). The second win came off a mark of 129 by a short head and he was beaten less than 4l off his revised mark of 135 last time out at Kempton (21f good). In between those two runs he took a class 2 18f handicap on the level off 82 on good to soft at Newmarket and followed that up with an excellent effort in the Cesarewitch off 88 on good ground.
His previous flat win came on soft over 12f and he absolutely hosed up, never coming off the bridle. It seems he is at his very best with cut in the ground and conditions will be pretty testing at Haydock. His half brother Lightning Strike won a grade 2 on bottomless ground over 20f and with Noonan taking off 7lbs he has a light weight to carry. His 18f flat win shows that stamina won't be an issue and at odds of 25/1 he looks worthy of a little each way support off an effective mark of 128, 1lb lower than he was for his last win.
STEVOS' SELECTION: 2.25 HAYDOCK LOW KEY 25/1 E/W
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