David Massey is back to map out his week of punting on the jumps scene, including trips to Warwick, Chepstow and Newbury.
Another false start.
No sooner do we get the jumps season going than a mini-Indian-summer at the back end of last week sets us back again. Exeter and Wincanton lose their big forthcoming days; their loss is Aintree’s gain. Newbury has issues, Ludlow still has issues, Sandown has issues… it goes on. It is a little depressing, if I’m honest. We, as a sport, really need to sit down and look at the situation properly. Nothing much can be done for next year now, but surely from 2028 onwards we can come up with something better than what we have. Two and three-runner runner races do nobody any good.
We’ll work with what we’ve got then this week, and hope the rain eventually comes again.
I’ll actually be on the road all week, pretty much, starting locally at Southwell on Monday.
I’m pretty keen on Law Of Supply getting us off to a good start in the opener at 13:15. He had a couple of entries this week but connections come here, happy to give the weight away, and I think he’ll do it. That second-place finish to Paper Mill here last time is solid form; the winner going in again at Market Rasen a couple of weeks ago (and now heads my list of likely ones for the Lincolnshire National, the really big race on Boxing Day), and a repeat of that might be good enough. Kim Bailey and Mat Nicholls are starting to get their season going, two recent winners on the board, and Law Of Supply has a great chance of adding to the tally.
The maiden hurdle at 14:45 looks a cracker, and one for the Betamax; some big yards run some potentially useful types here and it should throw up winners at plenty of differing levels in the future. Midnight Jukebox has a couple of ones next to his name, but you’d have to be wary of anything from Fergal O’Brien’s at the moment; he’s gone off the boil in the latter half of October, and he’s another I’ll be looking to take on if too short.
Upton’s Mighty Oak was a winner at Rasen for the column a couple of weeks ago, and she looks a bet to follow up in the last. She should keep improving for a while yet, and a 4lb rise for that win won’t stop her, I don’t think. She could do with tidying her jumping up a touch, but that should come. Interestingly, she’s been declared here as she’s due to go to Huntingdon on Sunday; will she turn out twice, or is this a declaration in case Huntingdon is too quick? You’ll know by the time the column goes out.
Tuesday sees me heading to Warwick, and I’m not expecting big fields.
The most fascinating race is the handicap hurdle at 14:03, where Lucy The Wire, who won for the column last week at Hereford, is turned out again quickly and has a clear chance of following up from a 7lb higher mark, Toby McCain-Mitchell taking three of those back off. But hang on, one of my mythical tracker horses is in here: Gallant Lion, making his handicap debut, and it’ll be interesting to see if he takes his chance.
He’s not run badly on any of his three hurdle starts, but he’s very much looked like a handicap project, and this quicker ground should suit (two of his hurdle starts have come on soft). He’s been kept on the go on the Flat this summer and into the autumn so should be fit and would look thrown in off 100 on the best of his Flat form. Even his win off 66 at Brighton this year would make him look reasonably treated, and he’s one very much on my watching list.
After Warwick I’ll be heading down to Chepstow on Wednesday, a track I enjoy visiting, as you often see a nice one introduced here.
Rule Me In (12:51) is going to take some beating if turning out under a penalty in the opening handicap chase. He won as he liked at Newcastle last week, barely coming off the bridle to win just under five lengths; the good ground was clearly no problem.
Then it’s time to put the VHS cassette back in and tape the next couple of races, the two maiden hurdles on the card. I saw so many nice horses in these two races last year I could have filled My Stable with them alone, and it’s looking like a similar story this time. There are 45 entries in the first and 53 in the other suggest we could even get a split. Big-name trainers wherever you look.
I loved Hidden Mountain (13:25) when he won his bumper at Huntingdon last March, but he might want slower ground than he’s likely to get here; all the same, one to follow this year. Le Roi Remi (13:25) was one of the paddock picks for the Grade 2 Aintree bumper at the National meeting, and he didn’t run at all badly in finishing seventh; his head carriage left a bit to be desired, but I thought he was still a bit green and am happy to give him the benefit of the doubt at present. Bred to be a staying chaser in time (no surprise, given his physique), he could be useful for Tom Ellis this year.
Ellis has a better chance of success with Desertmore News (14:30), who, unsurprisingly, took to fences well at Ffos Las, going with gusto from the front until getting tired late and finishing an 8½ length third to Sinnatra. That’s good form, up there with the best of his winning hurdles form, and I fancy he’ll come on plenty for the run. Similar front-running tactics could see him hard to catch.
Speaking of Desertmore News, when he won at Southwell back in February, Stung By Tariffs (15:40) was back in third, not his first good effort as he’d finished within hailing distance of Mydaddypaddy at Carlisle earlier in the year. It was a terrible first run once sent handicapping at Haydock, almost too bad to be true, and he should do better in his second term, as so many of Henry Daly’s do.
Could be a cracking bumper to finish off with. Leave room on the Betamax for it.
Thursday’s Newbury card is tricky to assess, with many having double entries this week. Still, the Pertemps Qualifier at 14:25 has its charms, not least because if you didn’t know it was a Pertemps Qualifier you’d swear the chases were back on again. Masaccio, Miami Magic, One Big Bang, The Jukebox Kid, Bill Baxter and Amirite are all among the entries. Amirite, having his first start for Chris Gordon, will probably get a second look, but Kilwaughter looks the most likely winner to me at this stage. I’ve always liked the Hobbs/White gelding, and he made a winning reappearance at Ffos Las a fortnight ago. A winner at the track last February, he should keep improving this term and can win this on the way to better things.
And up at Newcastle, Rosie Baloo goes chasing after just the six stars over hurdles; she’s a lovely mare that should easily make the grade over the bigger obstacles, and it was pleasing to see her pick up a win at Sedgefield last year. Watch for her in the 14:42.
And then onto Aintree! See you all somewhere this week.
Published at 09:25 GMT on 02/11/26
