On the face of it Silverburn has little to recommend him other than the fact that he is Denman’s brother. He was pulled up on his last two starts and hasn’t won for getting on for two years. He has moved from Paul Nicholls’ stable and is now with Evan Williams and it may be that a change of scenery will do him good. He runs in the Sandown 12.55 tomorrow where he will at least have the going to suit him. He seems to like Sandown as his last two wins were both at the Esher track.
There is a field of only 4 runners for the Grade 2 chase at 1.55 where I fancy Crack Away Jack and Somersby to be the main contenders. The former was 4th in the Champion Hurdle and, like Somersby has already won over fences. Somersby has the size and scope to make a decent chaser and at the current odds he looks to be the value.
The Tingle Creek does not make much appeal from a betting point of view. A good case could be made for 4 of the runners. I see that the newspaper tipsters overwhelmingly favour Twist Magic, presumably on the basis of his course form. Well Chief seems largely ignored despite beating Master Minded last time. Well Chief himself has an excellent record at Sandown and I am inclined to stick with him here. Forpadytheplasterer looks a big price as well but it’s Well Chief for me.
Tasheba is a horse I had high hopes for this season but he was disappointing on his seasonal reappearance when last in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton. He carries top weight in the 3.00 at Sandown tomorrow but I am not convinced that he will be suited by the ground so I will keep a watching brief on this one.
One horse that will like the ground is the dour stayer Russian Trigger and he is my selection for the London National at 3.30.
A winner on the flat in Germany Sullumo was also a decent hurdler and did nothing wrong on his debut over fences at Uttoxeter last month. He has to give weight to most of his rivals in the Chepstow 1.05 but he can jump and he handles the ground. In the same race Giles Cross looks a big price for a horse that looks sure to handle the conditions.
The Begrudger represents Paul Nicholls in the 1.35. He is an Irish points winner and is related to Denman all of which indicates that chasing will be his game in the long term. He makes his hurdles debut for Paul Nicholls in the 1.35.
I thought that Lodge Lane ran well behind Money Trix on his last start. He handles give in the ground and has a very capable amateur jockey on board tomorrow in the 2.35.
I thought long and hard about Cashel Blue in the 3.05. He looks well handicapped and he is a course and distance winner. There is a doubt about his ability to handle really testing ground though which tempers my enthusiasm a little,
Trainer Alan Swinbank has an excellent record in bumpers and his Royal Riviera looks interesting in the Wetherby 2.10.
Former Champion Hurdle runner up Osana won on his chase debut and is fancied to follow that up with another win at Navan in the 1.00.
Today’s photograph is of Twist Magic and is included by kind permission of Kate Tann.
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