Cupola didn't look like the main threat to the well-backed favourite. She was positioned nicely by Dougie Costello, albeit on the outside, but was given every chance. She looked very one-paced and deteriorated in the final half-furlong, so it's a strange performance and Clive Cox will be scratching his head about what to do with Cupola in his future runs in terms of trip, but she is still lightly raced and will likely be ones for handicaps.
Rizzel's tips
Sacre Coeur 15/8 – Ludlow 3.05
I don't think Sacre Coeur would be as appealing if she didn't have the 7lb claimer on board her as she is on a fairly tough handicap mark, but reducing the weight with the claimer puts her on a dangerous mark to overlook.
This is a decent race for the grade as you have horses on winnable handicap marks, others arriving in decent form and then there's a question mark whether someone will want to challenge Sacre Coeur for the pace, which would then make her life more difficult. If they allow Sacre Coeur to go from the front, which is what she is best at as she is such a free-going horse, then this race could be over a fair way from home. Once she gets a few lengths of free air and she hits a good jumping rhythm she is incredibly hard to peg back.
My selection is very versatile in terms of distances, she is very capable of slightly further and has plenty of pace which allows her to be competitive over the minimum trip, but with the amount of knowledge we have of her, this intermediate trip looks the most suitable, especially around a track like Ludlow which has been a decent venue for her, with a win here over 2m and a good runner-up finish behind La Renommee over 3m.
Her recent form makes her the deserved favourite for today's race, as she was only touched off in a Class 3 race by a horse who was in good form prior, but she didn't help her chances when not fluent at the last. The ground is coming into her favour and with no further rain expecting to land at Ludlow, she should have no excuses for today's race.
