Collier Hill is one of the unsung heroes of UK racing. The 8 year old won the Hong Kong Vase yesterday, scooping the winning prize of £600,000. He was competing in his seventh country in the space of eight months and has now scored in Hong Kong, Canada, Dubai, Sweden, Germany and Ireland, as well as at home. Quite an amazing record for a horse that once won a maiden hurdle at Kelso!
We had one winner from the list to follow today thanks to The Pious Prince who won the bumper at Musselburgh. Trainer Lenny Lungo has always spoken well of this horse and has now given him 3 runs in bumpers. The next stop for him now might be a novice hurdle somewhere in the north I would imagine.
Racing tomorrow is at Ayr and Plumpton but note that Plumpton is subject to a morning inspection.
Although there are no runners from my list to follow on Monday there are a few possible selections for you to consider.
Echo Point was an impressive winner at Sedgefield last season but suffered a knee injury that kept him out for a while. He was 4th on his chase debut at Carlisle and I would hope he would come on a bundle for that run. He runs in the Ayr 12.50.
Corrib Lad is one of the biggest horses in Len Lun go’s yard. He won over fences last time at Carlisle. He reverts to hurdles in the 1.20 where he may be able to take advantage of a favourable hurdles rating. He acts with plenty of give in the ground.
Strong Resolve was one of my fancies for the Grand National a couple of years back but he made a hash of the water jump and never really got back into the race. He failed to win last season but looks in better form this time round.
He is a course and distance winner and my tip for the 2.25.
All for Luck was only 6th on his UK hurdles debut but that performance was probably better than the bare form figures suggest. He was an impressive winner of a point to point in Ireland and is an interesting one. Another to consider in the 3.00 is Skippers Brig. This 5 year old gelding had some good bumper form but unseated on his hurdles debut. He is a half brother to Skippers Cleuch a winner of 10 races, 3 of them in early December!
Netherley hasn’t run for nearly 2 years so presumably something has been amiss. Netherley, trained by Venetia Williams has form figures of 212 in bumpers. He is an old fashioned chasing type who could be worth noting if fully fit. He runs in the 1.45 at Plumpton.
Hope to see you again tomorrow.
ahorse 