Hi all,
Four meetings today. Haydock is the only one over jumps and despite the soft ground, the six-race card has attracted just 55 runners.
At least the field size has held up for the feature race with 12 set to meet the starter for the veteran’s handicap chase (2:50).
There are three all-weather cards at Lingfield & Dundalk in the afternoon and Kempton this evening. I have a handful of selections from Haydock for you.
Haydock
1:50 – Burrows Edge won Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle at Kempton by 9 lengths in January 2020 and wasn’t disgraced when 13th of 25 in the Coral Cup at that season’s Cheltenham Festival. The 8-year-old missed the whole of last season due to injury. Well-being must be taken on trust but had looked the sort to make up into a decent novice chaser and looks worth chancing here on his return to action.
1pt win – Burrows Edge – 5/1 @ Coral & Ladbrokes
2:50 – A cracking veterans chase with plenty of old favourites in action. If I lived closer to Haydock there would be worse places to be on Wednesday afternoon.
Aso heads the market for Venetia Williams. The 11-year-old has a touch of class and shapes like he needs 3m these days although its worth noting he’s 0 winners from 8 starts 1 placed racing beyond an extended 2m 5f and hasn’t won since January 2019. Will be sharper for his recent run in the Paddy Power Handicap Chase at Cheltenham 18-days ago and has dropped to a nice mark 8lb below his neck 2nd of 12 at Warwick in February.
Lake View Lad won the Many Clouds Chase on his seasonal reappearance last season. The top-weight has now won twice on his seasonal return so fitness shouldn’t be an issue and he’s very much in the mix given he’s dropped down to an attractive handicap mark.
It’s usually worth noting the 10-year-old’s in this type of race and both Prime Venture and bottom weight Tinkers Hill Tommy are worth a second look. The former won on his seasonal return and the latter is better than he was able to show when pulling up on his seasonal return at Ludlow.
1pt win – Lake View Lad – 4/1 @ Coral & Ladbrokes
3:20 – Bold Plan won a Class 2 handicap hurdle over C&D in November 2019, off 1lb lower. A track that favours speed suits the 7-year-old, although he needs to have come on plenty for a low-key reappearance at Bangor last month. Top-weight here but ticks the all-important boxes marked course, distance and going.
1pt win – Bold Plan – 9/1 @ Bet365
Cheers
John