Money was down on The Brickey Ranger, backed in from 14/1 to around 5/1, but he ran a poor race.
He was in trouble a long way from home, mainly due to his slow jumping and the fact that he was taken on by the 40/1 winner. You could have given me a month to pick the winner of that race, and I still wouldn't have landed on the eventual winner. That came out of the blue.
Fortunefavorsdbold ran well, but bumped into one who returned to form over fences. I thought Sean gave her every chance of winning, but she was beaten by a better handicapped horse on the day, so there's not much you can do about it.
Big Zouk 11/8 (2pt) – Kelso 4.10
After I tipped up Big Zouk and he won for us last time out, I said that he needs to run over 4m to be seen to best effect. We're not getting that today, but he is up a further two furlongs, which has to be seen as a positive compared to his run over 3m last time out.
Big Zouk just looks like a boat. He is a slow horse who just keeps plugging away at the one pace and grinds out his races, so if you're not a strong stayer, he'll find you out. He has gone up 4lbs for his recent win, which is why I am still more than happy to give him another chance over this longer trip. IK still firmly believe he needs much further, and then we'll see the real ability of this horse, but this isn't the strongest of races, so he'll likely get away with it.
To add to this, the ground at Kelso is heavy, which places even further emphasis on the stamina aspect. Also, Kelso is quite a stamina-testing track, even though it's not particularly hilly, as the final couple of furlongs just have a small level of incline, which does catch out the weak-hearted.
There's still room for improvement off his current handicap mark if you can read into his point-to-point win. He beat Followcato, who is now rated 127 over fences, and Big Zouk was one length ahead of him back in February 2024.
Slaney Opera has to be respected on the back of a recent win, and Wal Buck's has to be on a good handicap mark. The problem with Wal Buck's is that he is with a yard severely out of form and hans't managed to win off similar marks in the past.
GambleAware
4:35 fakenham- golden Sanjida e/w extra bet 365 3places 23/4
4:45 Kelso – the shanachie 8/1 e/w