By Ryan Skidmore
Cyclop in 14:05 Fontwell Vickers.Bet Southern National Handicap Chase (14/1 EACH WAY)
Does He Know in 14:20 Cheltenham Jewson Handicap Chase (5/1 WIN)
Nina The Terrier in 14:55 Cheltenham Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle (16/1 EACH WAY)
Fontwell
14:05 - Cyclop 14/1 Each Way
Despite his age Cyclop has kept improving and is currently at a career high mark but he still looks a solid proposition today. For a horse not that big in size, he makes up for it in effort and really attacks his fences. He is the winner of a Lincolnshire National and a Highland National already and with a prep run under his belt, will certainly give it a bold go at the Southern edition for trainer Matt Sheppard.
5 Cyclop
Age: 11 Weight: 11-9 Jockey: Charlie Deutsch Trainer: David Dennis
Form: 61/5-2
Cheltenham
14:20 - Does He Know 5/1 WIN
There is no doubt that Kim Bailey’s horse is the best horse in this field by a long way as the handicap mark suggests and if he gets into a jumping rhythm of sorts then he will be very hard to beat today against inferior rivals.Does He Know was a 3 time winner over fences last term including a Grade 2 at Ascot. He was fancied for the Ultima before dissapointing there, but he has got winning experience at the course so that is not a big worry for me. He has had a wind op over the summer, but it was impossible to tell if that worked last time as he was hampered before falling at the first at Kelso. David Bass will relish this ride and I have no worries about his stamina over the extended trip either.
1 Does He Know
Age: 7 Weight: 11-0 Jockey: David Bass Trainer: Kim Bailey
Form: 1210-F
Cheltenham
14:55 - Nina The Terrier 16/1 Each Way
Alan King has won 2 of the last 5 renewals of the Greatwood Hurdle and he has a few darts at making that 3 out of 6 today. He runs both Harbour Lake and Nina The Terrier, of which it is the latter that holds the better chance in my opinion and is actually the bigger price of the pair. Nina The Terrier is a mare who thrives on good ground and getting a strong pace to aim at and she looks like she will get those conditions today. She completed a hat-trick as a novice last term and ran plenty of other good races in graded company. Her return at Chepstow was solid bumping, just bumping into Sonigino, who she gets a 14lb swing in the weights with today. She was then in the process of running a big race at Wetherby when falling 3 out and to my eyes was going to go close to a pair of 140+ rated mare’s. If she is none the worse for that fall her odds of around 16/1 look huge today.
7 Nina The Terrier
Age: 6 Weight: 11-3 Jockey: Tom Bellamy Trainer: Alan King
Form: 302-2F
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