Ben Linfoot looks through Friday's cards and picks out Nigel Twiston-Davies' form, a potential Betfair Hurdle horse and a York Ebor Festival eyecatcher as points of discussion.
1. Twiston pair on the radar at Fakenham
A trip to Donald McCain’s on Wednesday has whetted my appetite for the new jumps season (stable tour and videos out soon) and with the first Cheltenham meeting on the horizon my head is beginning to turn.
But with it being sooooo early in the National Hunt campaign the punting boots have not been laced just yet, with just a mere toe dipped in the waters at Wetherby this week.
Unsurprisingly, Nigel Twiston-Davies had a winner there, with Kapgarry. He always seems to start the season with a bang and a treble at Carlisle on Thursday took his tally to nine winners in the last fortnight at a 32 per cent strike-rate.
It could be worth keeping an eye on his two runners at Fakenham on Friday, then, with Supakalanistic and Ballykan running for the Naunton handler.
The former hasn’t pulled up any trees since returning from a wind operation, finishing seventh at Warwick and fifth at Ffos Las in handicap hurdles in May, but the positive is his handicap mark which has dropped 5lb following those two runs.
On his easy Southwell win off 111 in February a mark of 117 gives him a chance, but he does have to return in that sort of form after a 146-day break, rather than the horse that disappointed on his last two starts.
Ballykan also returns after an absence and he goes well fresh, while the good ground at Fakenham is perfect for him as he’s always kept away from deep winter conditions.
He’s very much well handicapped off 133 on his best form, and it would be no surprise if were able to add to Twiston-Davies’ customary lightning start to the jumps season proper.
2. Eragon back at Wincanton
A mid-season break did Eragon De Chanay good last season and it will be interesting to see how he’s developed after a summer off in the smarkets.com Handicap Hurdle at Wincanton (3.25) on Friday.
Gary Moore’s charge – could he be his Betfair Hurdle horse this season? – returned from 84 days off the track at Sandown in March and coasted home by 11 lengths off a handicap mark of 121.
Connections couldn’t resist running him in the Fred Winter at the Cheltenham Festival four days later and he ran okay in seventh under a penalty, despite the edge seemingly missing from him following his Sandown win the previous Saturday.
He improved on that effort 11 days later at Ascot when beating everything bar Malaya after attempting to dominate from the front, finishing a tired horse that day following three runs in just over two weeks.
After 208 days off the track he should be raring to go on Friday and, though it’s a tough task off top weight, the promise he showed as a juvenile means I’ll be watching his seasonal bow with interest.
3. Convivial eyecatcher runs at Newcastle
Back to the Flat now and an interesting runner on Newcastle’s evening card with Boston George finally running his second race for Keith Dalgleish in the novice race (6.15).
This horse will have gone into many a tracker following his fifth in the Convivial Maiden at York at the Ebor Festival, a fine debut at 33/1 in the most valuable race of its type.
He ran green in the early stages on the Knavesmire and had plenty to do at halfway, but he made up lots of ground once the penny dropped and was only beaten three lengths at the line.
That gives him a standout chance on form on Friday and if he improves for it after two months off the track, he could well be very tough to beat.
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