Three good HC's and a walkover (most likely) today which should be interesting from a betting perspective.
In the first HC over at Leicester I think that course winner Rumbury Grey is underated here relative to the likes of Marblehead (a winner over 4m at Dunthrop in a good Open LTO) and Rathcor (runner-up over 3 1/4m LTO) and I think that the shorter trip will be against both of those whilst Kiama again has Will Biddick up (rode last time out) and at 20/1 he could be a big player E/W if we have the dead eight in at the off.
Pistolet Noir was sold for big money out of Nick Williams yard but never lived up to it at Paul Nicholls and though he showed more in his p2p debut last time out I'd be inclined to overlook him whilst Johnny Bailey hasn't exactly shone in his rides on Galway Jack so far this season and Gidam Gidam is surely a live contender for some of the staying contests later on in the season (4m HC at Cheltenham would be where I'd target him).
In the 2m Thrusters HC at the same track the favourite is 14yo Fairwood Present - a worthy fav IMO but too short at 11/8, Restless D'Artaix clearly retains some of his old zip whilst former Cheltenham Festival runner Gardasee showed up well for a long way on his p2p debut last time out and can go well under his decent jockey Ben Poste. I wouldn't rule out Point Proven either who is another who ran well for a long way over further than this - though in his case it was in a Hunter Chase and at 20/1 (Gardasee) and 6/1 (Point Proven) they'd be the two for me.
At Wincanton it looks a two horse race to me and with Jayne's Crusader winning this last year and looking an unlucky loser having slipped up on landing at the final fence last time out he looks the one for me at 7/4 and given how I priced it last night I feel that the front two in the market are the wrong way round. Massimo is a very decent horse on his day but the presence of JD Moore in the plate on Jayne's Crusader just swings it for me and the Ladbrokes price of 7/4 is a bet IMO.
Anyone else any thoughts?
Martin