Both of Saturday's picks were atrocious. We had a faller and a poor effort from the other.
Throatlash put in a steep jump in the first circuit, and that resulted in making a blunder. He then did a very similar thing on his next fence, then regained composure before Brian Hughes asked for a big jump when he needed it, and the horse just went through the fence.
Thankfully, the horse walked away from the incident, so I'm guessing he is perfectly fine.
Invincible Nao didn't jump with great fluency at Ascot, dragging his legs through a few fences, mixed in with some scruffy jumps. He then found himself under pressure before turning for home, and then tailed off.
Jus De Citron 13/8 (1pt) – Musselburgh 4.20
Harry Derham has a decent strike rate of 22% with his runners at Musselburgh, so I was keen to back one of his runners on today's card. He has a couple of horses at backable prices, but Jus De Citron was the one I thought had the best chance of winning.
The gelding of Saint Des Saints ran well on his chasing debut at Newcastle in the middle of January over 2m 4f. He wasn't overly fancied in the market, which is normally a big indicator for this yard when they are over fences for the first time, but ran and jumped well for the most part.
He showed a good attitude when he was outpaced, staying on at the finish, but didn't have long enough to get to the two in front of him. For today's race, he tackles an extra four furlongs, which should be better for him if we're basing it on his last start.
I don't believe this will be a walk in the park, as he has gone up a couple of pounds in the handicap, and there is some horses who could pop a question or two.
Despite going up to a mark of 117, he should still have room for improvement. He beat Jordans Cross when he was hurdling. That horse has since become a very useful chaser, now rated 140. Also, he is related to two decent horses called Diligent, who peaked at 137 over fences. Elfile, his full sister, was a 151-rated hurdler. She enjoyed racing on testing conditions, which gives me confidence that he'll be fine on today's soft ground.
After hitting the ground running at the start of the season, Harry Derham's stable form took a huge dip around Christmas time. Thankfully, they have started to get their act together again and have been getting a couple of recent winners, including Queens Gamble in the Class 1 Listed chase at Wincanton yesterday.
GambleAware