The shorter price of the two selections for yesterday was a non-runner; the other selection was shocking.
The Other Mozzie put in an awful round of jumping, and must have met one fence on a good stride. It does baffle me how horses of The Other Mozzie's quality (138 rated) can suddenly forget to jump a fence. It's not like he's an old horse. I don't think Cobden in the saddle covered himself in glory. He was basically a passenger and didn't even boot him into any fences, which is one of the things I hate the most about jump jockeys.
Greyval 11/1 (0.5pt EW, 4pl) – Warwick 3.30
The recent news is that Fergal O'Brien and Johnny Burke have split as a partnership, but Johnny is still booked on Greyval. I'm guessing that he is finishing off the rides he has already been booked to ride, then will part ways. I assume that Johnny still would have had the pick of the Fergal horses for this race, and he has gone for Greyval over Siog Geal.
This is a competitive race on paper, and it wouldn't surprise me to see any of them win it. On their current handicap marks, I think Greyval is one of the most likely winners, especially back on good ground.
It's strange to see that she is just a seven-year-old, as it feels like she's been around for years. She was a useful horse when she first started racing, and had good form from the win over Arclight. She has done okay over hurdles, and her win at Cheltenham last April off the same mark as today shows she is dangerous to overlook.
She hasn't had the chance to show her ability this season. She ran well at Chepstow at the start of the season, but apart from that, she hasn't had the ground she likes. She has also had a stint over fences and been running over further, which has resulted in her handicap mark dropping.
Mountain Mike 9/4 (2pt) – Perth 3.40
In a race where all of the horses have something to prove, I wanted to give a chance to Mountain Mike, who is still very unexposed as a chaser.
He fell early in his race last time when he was the favourite at Sedgefield. He departed far too early for us to make an educated guess on how well/bad he was going to do. However, based on his second chase start at Hereford, I think that gives him a solid chance.
At Hereford, he finished as the runner-up to Bective Abbey. The winner was well-fancied in that race and had shown a good level of form throughout the season.
Mountain Mike gets in this race off a nice weight of 10st 5lbs, and a further 3lbs is reduced from Luke Scott taking the ride.
GambleAware