Hill Could Bound Away On Better Ground At Wincanton

Beacon Rock ran a cracking race for us at Leopardstown and he was pipped for a place in the final strides. The forecast rain didn't materialise and the ground was probably just a tad too quick for him. The most visually impressive performance on the day came from Now Or Never and she showed an exciting turn of foot to put the race to bed. Hit The Bid, who was gambled on in the first race for the Bunyan yard, is one to look out for later in the season. He looked an absolute giant of a horse in the parade ring and he could be a serious animal given a bit more time.

York starts on Wednesday and it promises to be a top class meeting. I am planning on doing a preview of every race for all 3 days so be sure to check back tomorrow evening to find out my selections for Day 1. The fare tomorrow doesn't look too appetising from a punting point of view, but one horse that could be worth having a small each way interest in is Bound Hill for Fiona Shaw in the 2.35 at Wincanton, a 21.5f class 5 handicap hurdle that will be run on good to firm ground.

Bound Hill is a horse that is difficult to fancy on what he has produced so far on the racecourse. However, it is still relatively early days with this 7yo son of Kayf Tara and the  good ground tomorrow could bring about an improvement in form. He has yet to hit the frame in 6 career starts and his handicap debut off 105 in a class 4 last time was far from impressive (21.5f soft). The best effort of his career arguably came on good ground on his debut at Kempton when he was 5th of 13, but even so he was beaten over 30L at the finish. The rest of his career runs came on either soft or heavy ground, but his pedigree suggests that better ground should suit.

He is a full brother to top class chaser The Package, and though that fella managed to win on soft he was at his very best when there was good in the ground description. His dam's winning siblings all preferred better ground too, so hopefully that will be the case with Bound Hill. The drop into a class 5 has to be seen as a positive, and though he has to carry top weight that says more about the strength of the opposition than his ability. In any case Mikey Legg claims a valuable 5lb to ease the burden. It is a very poor race and the Woollacott horse is the only one with any decent recent form.

Another factor that sparked my interest in this horse is the fact that he wore a hood on his handicap debut (when he was sent off at just 12/1 in comparison to 100/1 on his previous run). That has quickly been discarded for this race and when you see connections messing about with headgear it can often mean they have something up their sleeve. It can also mean that the horse has a questionable attitude but for Bound Hill I am hoping it is the former. This is a pretty chancy selection so stakes should be kept to a minimum, but at odds of 25/1 I think Bound Hill is worth a couple of quid each way in the hope that the quick ground brings out the best in him.

STEVOS' SELECTION: 2.40 WINCANTON-BOUND HILL 25/1 E/W