Newbury
12.05pm
Floressa
She obviously did well in her bumpers, and I was very impressed by the manner of her Worcester win on her hurdling debut. You have to think she would have followed up but for her slight mistake at the last when just inched out by Silver Forever here next time – and the winner did my filly no favours on the run-in, either – and the only upside of that defeat is that she doesn’t carry a penalty here, like the winner. She is a filly going places, and I like her chances, especially as I schooled her on Thursday morning and I think she has come on a bundle.
1.15pm
Divine Spear
Things didn’t go his way in three starts last year, but the positive is that he came down 6lb as a result. So if we can get him back to the sort of form that saw him win so impressively at Ascot a couple of seasons ago then he is definitely on a mark that he can win off. But he obviously has questions to answer on his first run back, though he did have a very good record when fresh prior to last season and hopefully a wind op has helped, too.
1.50pm
Downtown Getaway
He showed high-level form when winning his sole bumper in Ireland and he ran great races for us when just being beaten on his hurdling debut here and when beating a very good sort at Ascot. We clearly didn’t see him at his best at Aintree, so we can draw a line under that. I definitely think a mark of 131 is workable here. He should go very well, in fact.
2.25pm
French Crusader
He was very impressive when winning over course and distance here last November and, to be honest, I don’t know why he haven’t seen him since. Perhaps Nicky will be able to shed more light on that in his Unibet column! He is 9lb higher here and his record hints that he would like it to dry out as much as possible, but he is clearly lightly-raced and a 6yo with very few miles on the clock, so the potential is there.
3.00pm
On The Blind Side
I thought he ran a great race at Ascot on his return. He showed what a good horse he can be when the beating the subsequent bet365 Gold Cup winner Talkischeap at Kempton last season and the Ascot run should have done him the world of good, confidence-wise, to perform well in a big field of experienced handicappers. And he did, finishing off his race well. That should have put him spot on for this and, if he can rise to this challenge, then I definitely think he has a massive chance off a mark of 149. This is only his fifth over start over fences, so experience could certainly an issue with 24 runners, but on the other side of the coin he is unexposed and open to improvement. I think the longer trip could really suit him after what we saw from him at Kempton and Ascot, too. If he runs up to the level of his ability, then he has a great shout.
3.40pm
Whatswrongwithyou
I’d be quite sweet on this one’s chances, too. He was a good hurdler, with two wins around here, and the handicapper has eased off on him over fences a bit after raising him a harsh 10lb for his Fontwell win in a three-runner race in February. He clearly didn’t run badly when seventh in the Grand Annual but he is 3lb lower now, and he comes here in excellent form on a track where he goes well and he likes ease in the ground. I’d think to think he is off a mark from which he can be very competitive here. We leave the hood off here as he seems to have settled down a lot. He is another who has had a wind op, too.
