We've teamed up with Timeform to preview Saturday's Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury with Charlie Hall third Aye Right looking well in at the weights.
The Timeform Top-Rated
Secret Investor (Timeform weight-adjusted rating: 176)
Secret Investor went up 6 lb for his comeback win at Chepstow last month, but that looks lenient based on the style of victory and how well the form has worked out. Secret Investor, who had undergone a second wind operation prior to that reappearance, jumped boldly out in front and was in command soon after quickening from the third last, only needing to be kept up to his work to score by seven lengths. That form has been well advertised by the runner-up, Potterman, who finished a close-up second in the Badger Beers and by the third, Some Chaos, who won at Kelso next time. Secret Investor would be running off a 3lb higher mark here were the BHA handicapper allowed to have his say again on the back of those efforts. Conditions also look set to be in the favour of Secret Investor, who has shown the pick of his form on a sound surface, and he is entitled to plenty of respect for 11-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls.
The Improver
Two For Gold (173p)
Two For Gold is the only runner in the Ladbrokes Trophy with the Timeform ‘p’ – a symbol denoting the horse is likely to improve – attached to his rating. Two For Gold, a lightly-raced seven-year-old, has had only five starts over fences, but he has created an excellent impression, winning his first three starts in this sphere before finishing runner-up to Copperhead in an attritional renewal of the Reynoldstown Novices' Chase. Those efforts marked Two For Gold down as a promising stayer, so it is to his credit that he was able to show improved form over a trip shy of two and a half miles on his reappearance at Wetherby last month. He was unable to match the winner's change of pace but produced a highly encouraging effort in second, leaving the impression he’ll improve for this stiffer test of stamina.
The Timeform Flag
The Conditional (Horses For Courses)
The Conditional showed his suitability to this test when finishing up to De Rasher Counter in last year’s Ladbrokes Trophy, producing what was a career-best effort at the time. The way he moved through this contest 12 months ago suggested that he had a bigger effort in his locker, and he proved that when winning the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, again catching the eye with how powerfully he travelled. He arrives here without the benefit of a run under his belt, but he is respected back at a course where he has already produced a notable effort.
Verdict
The well-treated Secret Investor and the improving Two For Gold are on the shortlist, as is the latter’s stablemate Vinndication, but, in a wide-open renewal, the one who makes greatest appeal is Aye Right. He was a useful hurdler and won five times in that sphere, but he always looked the type to make into a better chaser and it hasn’t taken him long to raise his game since going over fences. He produced a career-best effort when third in the Charlie Hall Chase last time, impressing with how powerfully he travelled and accurately he jumped, and he is weighted to reverse the form with runner-up Vinndication, meeting that rival on 7lb better terms having been five lengths behind him at Wetherby.
Timeform weight-adjusted ratings
176 Secret Investor
175 Aye Right
174 Vinndication
173p Two For Gold
173 Kildisart
173 Potterman
