Gleneagles was pushed out to 9/4 with BetVictor for the QEII at Ascot on Saturday as doubts resurfaced about the participation of the dual Guineas’ winner in the Group One mile contest. Solow has been trimmed to 4/5 and tomorrow’s 48-hour declarations are eagerly awaited.
Good jumps card at Uttoxeter this afternoon and the winning Cesarewitch connections have juvenile hurdler Duke Of Sonning (2.20) making his hurdling debut. The Alan King yard have been in cracking form of last after a long quiet period and this 3-year-old won a Chepstow Handicap last month on fast ground before disappointing on soft at Goodwood later in the month. Those with experience don’t look anything special and it would be a surprise if one of the newcomers wasn’t good enough first time out.
King is taken to follow up with Board Of Trade (2.55) in the Novices’ Hurdle over the minimum trip. The selection won both Bumpers and is likely to get further in time; A Little Magic finished runner up to a subsequent winner at Warwick last time and sets a decent standard but the King horse has the scope to be a decent hurdler.
Rye House (4.05) finished runner up at Ludlow last week and will be 7lbs higher in the weights from the weekend. The gelding was once rated higher on the flat (98) than he runs off over timber today (96) for Sir Michael Stoute and today’s conditions should be ideal. He will be hard to place for Tim Vaughan if he doesn’t go very close today.
Tom Scudamore was stood down on Tuesday and doesn’t take the mount on Skylander (4.40) who created such a favourable impression when scoring at Hexham at the beginning of the month. His 8lbs rise is largely negated by the 7lbs claim of conditional Michael Heard who was in the plate when the selection scored over timber at Taunton.
Junction Fourteen makes his chase debut for Emma Lavelle and the yard have had a frustrating run of things of late with their last three horses finishing second. The top-weight has the scope to make a chaser and the yard certainly think he could be a decent novice this term.
Cracking card in Ireland at Punchestown where Gold Cup prospect Don Cossack (4.30) makes his reappearance having finished third at Cheltenham last season in the Ryanair, arguably unlucky, before winning at both Aintree and Punchestown. This looks a fairly straightforward task for Gordon Elliot’s stable star who showed he gets 3m when thrashing a below par Djakadam over an extended 3m back in the spring.
Sizing Platinum (3.55) can reverse recent Roscommon form with The Game Changer on 2lbs better terms with the additional quarter mile also suggested as a plus. Trained by Henry De Bromhead the 7-year-old jumps well and I hope Johnny Burke makes it more of a test than last time when he was easily picked up by the progressive Elliot runner.
There is a hot handicap chase at Carlisle with Germany Calling and Vodka Wells trying to give weight and a beating to Relic Rock (3.15) who never quite fulfilled his Bumper potential in a light campaign over timber. He has the scope to jump a fence and it will be disappointing for connections if he can’t exploit an attractive opening mark over fences.
Shantou Village (3.50) can maintain his unbeaten record on his first start over timber for Neil Mulholland; the selection won a point-to-point in his native Ireland before easily winning a Wetherby Bumper and he is held in high regard by Neil Mulholland who had such a breakthrough season in 2014/15.
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