We were left with one runner on Sunday, as Kalista Love was a non-runner at Chepstow.
Roccontier was well-supported on his debut, winning easily under a very positive Nico De Boinville ride.
Nico knew he was on the best horse in the race, and kept it nice and simple. They gifted him an easy lead, and when the horse got into a good ryhthm it was over by the halfway point. Nico kicked for home just after the bend, and it was probably to see what he had under the bonnet, and the horse seemed above average based on what we saw.
Alto Alto 9/4 (1pt) – Plumpton 2.45
Monday's racing is dreadful, like normal, so I didn't want to get too involved. In the end, I decided to give Alto Alto one more chance, as he was dreadful last time out when tipped up three weeks ago.
I tipped up Alto Alto on the back of his solid performance against a previous tip, Icare Grandchamp. He put up a good fight that day against a horse I deemed to be ahead of the handicapper. The winner was tipped up again last time out, but didn't see out the longer trip, despite looking like a huge threat before turning for home.
Icare Grandchamp will be on my radar going forward when they drop him back to two miles, so I have to give Alto Alto the benefit of the doubt from his diabolical run at this venue on his last run.
Alto Alto is not a prolific winner, but he does run this track well, with all of his five career wins coming at the Sussex venue. His handicap mark has slowly dropped to a dangerous one, and he was dropped a further one pound. That mark puts him on his last winning mark of 108. He did win off 111, but Freddie Gordon was carrying a 3lb allowance that day.
This is a decent race for the grade, but if my fancy returns to form, he has to be going close given he was backed into 4/5F last time out. This yard doesn't leave their money behind all too often, so it was a rarity to see a horse backed in and run as badly as he did. He deserves a final chance to redeem himself.
GambleAware