Racing UK In HD Warwick Castle Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:15 | Winning time: 5m 26.8s

Vibrato Valtat^p,t²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: H Cobden| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 152

6/4

Has been running at the highest level for the past couple of seasons and seeks to return to winning ways for the first time since November 2015. Must overcome top weight but the class he possesses in relation to most of the rest of these could shine through.

Form: 5622P5-

Activial^t²⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: N D Fehily| T: N P Mulholland| OR: 147

4/1

Was perhaps showing the signs of nearly a year off when unseating on return at Kempton last time. Form over fences was excellent up until his absence, and he's a big player if returning to that level.

Form: 49213-U

On Tour¹⁴

Age: 9| Weight: 10-11| J: L P Aspell| T: Evan Williams| OR: 137

7/2

Went close at Aintree on his seasonal reapparance in November but has mostly struggled at this level since. Handicap mark is slipping though, and this trip should be ideal.

Form: 98-2035

Templehills^h¹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-5| J: Dave Crosse| T: N & W Twiston-Davies| OR: 131

9/1

Can be an excellent chaser when standing up but has fallen on two of his previous three appearances. Also remains to be seen how he performs on soft ground, and with so many question marks he is probably best watched here.

Form: 3110F1

No Buts^p⁸⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 10-0| J: Daniel Hiskett⁽⁵⁾| T: D G Bridgwater| OR: 123

9/2

Hasn't really figured in any of his races since winning a similar contest to this at Newbury in November 2014. Looks past his best and others hold much more convincing claims.

Form: 931941-

Non-Runners

Cold March⁴¹

Weight: 11-10| Age: 7

T: Miss V Williams J: Non Runner

Forecasts

Vibrato Valtat (6/4), Cold March (3/1), On Tour (7/2), Activial (4/1), No Buts (9/2), Templehills (9/1)

A lot will depend on how Vibrato Valtat performs with the drop back down in grade into handicap company. Almost certainly the classiest of these, he should take all the beating if able to concede weight all round. He hasn't looked at his best recently, though (and running him in this race doesn't exactly suggest connections have a lot of confidence in him), so preference is for ACTIVIAL. A novice chaser at Grade 2 level last term, he showed signs of taking time to recover from the lay-off when returning after almost a year and unseating at Kempton last time. He should come on a massive amount for that and carries a suitable weight. Templehills could also get involved if his jumping doesn't let him down again. 1. Activial 2. Vibrato Valtat 3. Templehills