Admiral Could Sail In At Towcester

Chandraayan ran an absolute stinker earlier this week and had no real excuses. He will more than likely pop up at a huge price some day soon but until he shows a bit more on the track he is best left alone. There is a feast of action tomorrow, with meetings in Ireland, the UK and Meydan and the horse I am interested in goes at Towcester in the 2.10, a 3m handicap chase which will be run on very testing ground.

Admiral Blake is a 9yo son of Witness Box, a sire renowned for producing classy staying chasers like Take The Stand, Godsmejudge and Monbeg Dude. Now it is fairly obvious to see that Admiral Blake is not in the same league as that trio, but this triple hurdle winner has had just the two runs over the bigger obstacles and after being pulled up on his first attempt he showed a modicum of promise on his last run at Catterick where he finished 5th, beaten 30L +.

He didn't jump brilliantly in the early stages of that race and he looked very fresh at the start, pulling the arms off his jockey Robbie Dunne. However, he seemed to warm to the task as the race progressed and he jumped an awful lot better in the last mile or so. It was a better run than the distance he was beaten suggests, and the handicapper has reacted by dropping him to 84, just 2lb higher than his last winning ark over timber.

I am hoping that Dunne can settle him a lot earlier tomorrow and hopefully get him into a nice rhythm. It was his first run after a couple of months off last time, and hopefully it has taken the freshness out of him and he races a lot more evenly. He is on a workable mark, he loves it when the mud is flying and one of his three hurdle wins came at Exeter, a track with similar characteristics to Towcester. He looks a big price at 14/1 and if his jumping holds up he could go close.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 2.10 TOWCESTER-ADMIRAL BLAKE 14/1 E/W