Wetherby
12.25pm
Vice Et Vertu
He is a horse I obviously know very well, and I won on him at Market Rasen last year. He hasn’t run up to that level in three subsequent starts, most recently in the summer, but he is now 3lb lower than for that success and he does have winning form on heavy in the book if we do get a lot more rain. But good to soft or soft will be fine for him – he handles decent ground well, too – and Henry has his horses in decent nick, too. He is weighted to go well.
1.00pm
Brief Ambition
He proved himself a very smart bumper horse last season when he mixed it with some very good horses. His second to Ocean Wind at Newbury was a particularly good effort considering what the winner has gone to do since on the Flat. I think he ran into another decent sort on his return at Uttoxeter as well – the winner ran very well when second in a big field handicap at Cheltenham last week – and this longer trip and expected softer ground will suit him. A lot of our horses are improving a good deal from their first run, and I think he has a massive chance.
