These are quite days wit the Cheltenham Festival almost upon us. There is some interesting racing over the weekend nonetheless with the big race being The Imperial Cup at Sandown (3.50).
There are 3 I fancy for this. You have to respect Gary Moore in these big handicap hurdles and his Mon Michel looks well handicapped. His 3rd here in January looks respectable form. The class horse in the race has to be Ashkazar of David Pipe’s who crossed swords with the best on the flat. He was a really easy winner over hurdles at Wincanton before finishing 4th to the Triumph Hurdle favourite Franchoek. He then won again, this time at Sandown. He is a very classy recruit to the jumping game and has to be on the short list. The other one I am quite keen on is Halla San, a decent handicapper on the flat who has won a couple of hurdle races up at Musselburgh so comes here in good form.
Earlier at Sandown in the 2.05 the recent Chepstow winner Wind Instrument should go well. There are also a couple of runners from our list to follow in this, Laborec and Tot ‘O Whisky. Howard Johnson’s horses have been running in to a bit of form this week and Laborec could be each way value at around 14/1.
In the 4.25 Gentle John goes for his 3rd success of the campaign. He is on the upgrade and if his jumping hold together he could be hard to peg back.
Ayr is subject to an inspection and if racing goes ahead the ground is likely to be on the testing side.
in the 3.25 Quws Law seeks to restore his reputation after a bit of a grumpy effort on his last run. He has shown some ability in his earlier runs though and if back to form he would have a chance.
Len Lungo has been saddling some winners this week and in the 4.35 Berwick Law is his representative. This one could just be suited by the 3 mile trip and has an each way chance.
At Chepstow in the 3.40 Mister Potter and The Sawyer both have chances. Mister Potter looks a bit of a baby but has plenty of scope. I see that he runs in first time blinkers which could sharpen up his concentration. The Sawyer comes form a yard that has had a virus but the horses have been running better recently.
On Sunday my main fancies are:
Hereford 2.25 Otage de Brion
Market Rasen 2.15 Brook no Argument
Warwick 3.05 Theatre Diva
ahorse 