Ian Ogg was among the winners on Sunday - now he has the best Monday bets.
It has taken time for GOOD TOO to find his form since joining Brett Johnson from Joseph O'Brien who, interestingly, has a runner earlier on the card.
Four runs over seven furlongs and a mile only saw him beat a handful of horses but the step up to a mile and three produced a far better performance on his penultimate start where he was short of room in the closing stages at Kempton. It was something of a surprise, therefore, to see him returned to a mile at this venue last time but no surprise to see Good Too doing his best work in the closing stages and he can make his presence felt back over a more suitable trip.
The drop in trip is a slight concern but the stiff finish allays that to some extent and NO SAINT did catch the eye in no uncertain times at Southwell on his second start for Sam England back in December. Given he's related to a winning hurdler, it would be no surprise to see him over obstacles sooner rather than later but connections could have some fun with him on the level first and the booking of Joe Fanning rates as a positive.
Reyaadah Star won a weak Kempton maiden and looked one to benefit from going further rather than dropping back in trip, while Ardbraccan is fairly exposed and not a cast iron stayer when it comes to seeing out 10 furlongs, so it's worth backing handicap newcomer XIOMARA. Her trainer David Menuisier had a couple of middle-distance handicap winners at Newbury on Friday and this well-bred filly is made for this sort of trip. She ran twice in France last year and caught the eye when fifth on her UK debut at Lingfield last month. An opening mark of 75 looks workable and she should continue to progress with experience.
HURTLE hasn't been back to Brighton since he won his maiden over a mile here in October 2022 but he looks a good bet back at the venue on Tuesday following a back-to-form second over a similar trip at Bath earlier this month. The grey gets another shot off the same mark of 53 which is fully 17lb lower than what he was rated back in the autumn and I like the booking of Silvestre De Sousa, who has a decent record for the Cole yard over the years.
Hurdles winner WARRIORS STORY rather went missing last season after a promising enough start over fences but he was back from another break with a better effort in third over this course and distance earlier in the month and it's hoped he can kick on again having been eased another 3lb in the weights. A revised mark of 93 gives him every chance on the pick of his 2022/23 form and it does appear that good ground will play more to his strengths than some of the others in this modest novices' handicap.
PLANET LEGEND stayed two miles on the Flat during his time with James Ferguson so it's no wonder he seemed to appreciate a step up in trip when beaten narrowly on his first try over three miles in a handicap hurdle at Ludlow last month. The assessor has taken note and nudged him up 3lb to 115 for the defeat which doesn't look ideal on paper but he was rated 121 when winning a juvenile event at Kelso last spring and is seemingly on good terms with himself again now. This looks his time of year as he obviously doesn't like the deep winter conditions.
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