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I hope you had a lovely Christmas spent with your loved ones.
The main day over the Christmas period for us sports fans is definitely Boxing Day, where we have plenty of racecards to get our teeth stuck into.
As always, please put your fancies in the chat. As I'm sure that some people will like some tips from the smaller courses, with the main focus on the Kempton card.
Gaelic Warrior 11/4 (1pt) – Kempton 2.30
I can understand the money for Fact To File after Willie Mullins confirmed that he was coming to this race, but the money for Jango Baie seems strange.
Don't get me wrong, he is a very talented horse, but now in open company against some proven Grade 1 older horses, that's a much tougher assignment.
I honestly believed Gaelic Warrior was going to be close to odds-on, so seeing 5/2 the day before seems fantastic value.
We know he is an enigma, and does his own way sometimes, but he is maturing into a very smart horse. He beat Fact To File in a tight finish last time out, and I was concerned that might have taken a lot out of him. However, Willie wouldn't risk his horses unless they were 100%.
I think he is the best horse in the race, and the horse that has the most ability. We now know he stays the trip, but this is an acid test, which I think he will be fine with.
Il Est Francais will turn this into a proper stamina test, but the difference this time around is that Gaelic Warrior has the speed to go through the race. Hopefully, his jumping holds up, and he has the stamina at the end to see it out.
Indeevar Bleu 2/1 (1pt) – Aintree 1.40
When racing is this busy, many jockeys profit from getting outside rides that they'd never get for trainers they don't ride for. Jack Tudor looks to be one of those. Jack is a good jockey, but he's got some good rides at Aintree, including Indeevar Bleu.
I felt like it was best to focus on the two in-form horses with the strongest form, my selection and Bear Market. I've decided to go with Indeevar Bleu on the back of his good runner-up effort at Newbury, which I think is stronger.
I am supremely confident that Indemnity is well ahead of the handicapper, and he was third at Newbury. The winner was strong in the market and ran like a horse to follow this season.
The Newbury race was over 2m, and Indeevar Bleu was strong at the finish, suggesting today's longer trip will be better suited.
Pedley Wood 7/2 (1pt) – Wincanton 2.03
I was tempted by Jupiter Allen, as I thought he had a hard task to come from the rear of the field over 3m 6f at Exeter. However, he's not on a fantastic handicap mark, and the return to action for Pedley Wood looked solid.
Pedley Wood is a two-time course winner from last year. He is versatile over trips, but this longer trip seems best suited.
He won a better race than this at Wincanton last year off a slightly lower handicap mark. I think you can compensate for the higher mark for a weaker race, and given his return to action was more than satisfactory, he holds a solid chance for a yard who has done very well this season.
Scorsese 7/4 (1pt) – Sedgefield 11.45
An early race for Boxing Day sees Scorsese with a lovely chance to get a first win over fences.
He was a decent handicap hurdler last year, and has shown glimpses of ability off handicap marks around this over fences so far.
His run last time out at Wincanton was a very good effort, losing out to Pilsden Pen, who was tipped up that day.
Harry Atkins gets the spare ride, and it's probably not too bad that he is, because he takes off 7lbs. A repeat performance from last time out would be enough to win this and get us off to a flying start.
GambleAware