Moffatt's Charge Worth Chancing On Better Ground At Musselburgh

A bitterly disappointing run from Theophilus at Leopardstown on Saturday and the writing was on the wall from a long way out. He jumped poorly, was first off the bridle and it looked as though cold, wet and windy South Dublin was the last place he wanted to spend his Saturday afternoon. Ivanovich Gorbatov also floundered on the heavy ground and he was pushed out to 8s for the Triumph. He could be worth backing at that price as he will be a much better animal on the likely decent ground he'll get at the Festival.

Tomorrow there is decent action up North at Musselburgh, and I am putting my faith in Jimmy Moffatt, who did us a huge favour back in December when he sent out Highland Lodge to take the Becher Chase at Aintree. That showed he knows how to handle a good horse, and hopefully he can produce Altruism in peak condition for the opening Supreme Trial at 13.00.

This very lightly raced 6yo son of Authorized has a beautiful pedigree, and his half sister Irish Rookie is a listed flat winner and has been placed in a couple of Group 1s for Martin Meade. His dam is from the family of Zafonic, and this fella managed a maiden win on the flat before being beaten just over 2l in a handicap off a mark of 93. He was picked up at the sales for a bargain basement price of just £4200, and he could turn out to be an exceedingly shrewd purchase.

He was sent off at 8/1 for his yard and hurdle debut back in July at Moffatt's local track Cartmel (17f good to soft), and he belied his odds to come home in front by 4l. Now the bare form is nothing to write home about as it wasn't the strongest of races, but he followed up by 12L under a penalty over the same course and distance on identical ground on his next run and it was a taking performance.

He was stepped up to Listed company on his next outing, and despite obviously hating the soft ground he was beaten by only 6L and his trainer decided to put him away in anticipation of better ground in the Spring. He gets his wish at Musselburgh tomorrow where the ground is described as good, and with just a few showers forecast there should be no change before racing gets underway.

Moffatt has described this horse as 'a really nice horse and probably one of the better ones I´ve had in the last few years' and compared him favourably to Chief Dan George, who was a multiple graded winner for Moffatt. It is high praise indeed, and Altruism has an entry for the Supreme Novice which indicates the regard in which he is held. Moffatt is likely to have him primed for this race tomorrow after a couple of months off, and at his current odds of 18/1 he looks well worth chancing each way in an open looking race.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 1.00 MUSSELBURGH-ALTRUISM E/W 18/1