Uttoxeter stage a competitive jumps card on ideal good to soft ground and many of the leading yards are represented. At the time of writing (pre Wetherby) Jonjo O'Neill has not had a winner from his last 18 runners and until the stable give clear evidence they are back to their best it might be prudent to stay clear of the stable's representatives although they are sure to have at least one winner in West Yorkshire with Presence Felt walking over yesterday.
Battle Born (2.30) will get further than the minimum trip over hurdles but this dual Bumper winner can make a wining start over obstacles for Charlie Longsdon whose string are, almost invariably, well forward at this time of the season. The selection has won on soft and heavy ground and Noel Fehily is likely to try and make it a decent test; Champagne At Tara cost leading connections £110,000 last April but the grey did not see the track after Christmas and he, too, will get further in time.
Dan Skelton is another whose yard are at the top of their game at present and he has inherited What A Good Night (3.00) from Nigel Twiston-Davies; it is possible that a change of scenery might lead to a change in fortunes for a gelding who lost his way last year after a couple of falls. He is 8lbs lower than when winning at Stratford 12-months ago and a check of the market is recommended to see if there is any stable confidence.
AP McCoy is booked for Carningli (3.30) another having his first start over hurdles for Rebecca Curtis and it will be disappointing if this fine stamp of a hose can't make a winning return despite an absence of 300 days. It would be no surprise if a number of future winners come out of the race including Come On Laurie and the locally trained Grove Silver but if there is a star on show at the Staffordshire track then Carningli could be the one.
At Wincanton Val D'Arc (3.20) is every inch a chaser but Philip Hobbs has decided to keep him over timber for the time being having run his best race yet in Britain when brushed aside by the very talented Son Du Berlais at Newton Abbot last time.
The feature event is a valuable 2m 4f Handicap Chase and Wiffy Chatsby is a fascinating contender for Champion trainer Paul Nicholls returning from a 500-day lay-off, having scored with authority on his Chase debut at Worcester last summer. He must have a decent surface, goes well fresh but was tailed off on his sole start going right-handed over timber and is likely to be over-bet as many from the yard are.
There is plenty of pace in the race with Bertie's Desire and Al Alfa likely to set a strong gallop and I am going to give Daymar Bay (3.50) another chance having run moderately in a better contest at Newton Abbot in a race where it paid to race prominently last time.
Connections don't appear to know what the best trip is for Milord and he is readily overlooked in favour of The Last Euro (4.50) in the finale. The recommendatio has joined Emma Lavelle since connections forked out E90,000 at Goffs' back in May after the 4-y-old finished runner up in a p-t-p in his native Ireland. This looks an ideal starting point.
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