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Fingal Bay moves a rung up the ladder having won all three of his Grade Two novice hurdles, but there is no reason to expect his unbeaten run to come to an end in Grade One company in Saturday's Challow Hurdle at Newbury.
Richard Johnson's mount kept finding more when put under pressure by the smart Simonsig in the closing stages at Sandown last time and we simply do not know how much more power there could be under the bonnet. With his jumping improving and soft ground also seemingly no problem, it is hard to see how the rivals of Fingal Bay (3.05) can get the better of him even if they may also have more to offer.
Newbury 2.05 With just one victory from his last six starts, Cue Card has undoubtedly been expensive to follow but he also has a touch of class and could go off at a bigger price than he should in this interesting contest. Joe Tizzard will have a point to prove after being caught on the line by the fast-finishing Bobs Worth at this track last time out, the result obscuring what was a smart performance by Cue Card, who jumped with fluency. For Non Stop appeared to improve for the drop down to two miles at Sandown last time and his jumping has also improved, while Walkon must also rate a danger after impressing on his chasing debut.
Warwick 2.20 Timmy Murphy is riding as well as ever this season and his booking on Glens Boy takes the eye. The Henrietta Knight-trained seven-year-old did not show much over hurdles but looked a different prospect on his first start over fences and this dual winning point-to-pointer has a fair-looking handicap mark. This stiffer test of stamina should suit.
Newbury 2.35 Still open to improvement for the switch to professional handling, Quotica De Poyans clearly failed to get home on his first start for Alan King but he is expected to have come on for the outing and this multiple hunter chase winner could yet be anything if he brushes up his jumping.
Warwick 2.50 A different stable and a change of obstacles has seen North Stack turn a corner this season but he is still searching for a first victory having been mugged in the final stages after a slight mistake at the final fence last time. This contest looks winnable.
Newbury 3.40 A smart performer on the Flat, Secret World has looked tricky in all starts over hurdles so far, but this first run in handicap company presents a different challenge and Nicky Henderson's runner undoubtedly has the talent and turn of foot to sweep past these rivals close home if he fancies it.
Horse sense
After a disappointing year on the Flat, fortunes have picked up dramatically in the last couple of months for the father-and-son team Tim and Robert Walford, and the yard have high hopes of another good success for Ubi Ace (3.40) at Newbury on Saturday afternoon.
A useful performer on the Flat in the spring, he has translated that good form back to hurdles, winning at Wetherby and Sandown, most recently knuckling down admirably to hold reluctant hero Via Galilei in a tight finish on Tingle Creek Chase day.
Upped 6lb in the weights for that success, more will be needed here, but the Walfords are convinced that there should still be further improvement to come from Ubi Ace, who has had just five starts as a jumper.
Lifestyle is the danger under a penalty incurred for a cosy win at Kempton earlier this week. Barry Geraghty is banned but substitute Felix De Giles rides with a long rein, a style that seemed to suit Lifestyle at Kempton, and Geraghty advised Nicky Henderson to get her out under a penalty and win again.
Alan King is another trainer ending the year on a high and his Walkon (2.05) and Quotica De Poyans (2.35) both ought to go close in the colours of owner Max McNeill.
Since winning at Exeter at the start of the month, Walkon has delighted connections with his work and schooling. He meets smart rivals at Newbury, but could yet reach the very top of the tree as a chaser. Quotica De Poyans blew up on his reappearance but would still have won but for meeting the final fence wrong. He has come on plenty for that outing.
Gotoyourplay (12.20) took the eye on his reappearance at Towcester earlier this month and is held in high esteem by Andy Turnell. Back over fences and with the run under his belt, he could go well at a decent price.
Seen and heard
Sheikh Mohammed's main bloodstock advisor John Ferguson remains a jumps trainer to follow, largely through racing some of the sheikh's Flat-bred performers with success. But Ferguson, who trains at Cowlinge near Newmarket, had an expensive purchase from another source running on Thursday. The four-year-old Red Devil Boys ran a promising second in a Doncaster bumper having been sold for �72,000 at a Cheltenham sale in May. Intriguingly the buyer also has a link to the Maktoum family, being Anthony Stroud, formerly Sheikh Mohammed's longstanding racing manager.
Having been sent to Nicky Henderson in the hope that a new career could be carved out for him as a hurdler, that high-class Flat performer Dandino failed to prove a natural over jumps and will now be kept back for the 2012 Flat season. But it seems odd that he has not returned to James Given, for whom he won a Group Two earlier this year. Instead, Dandino has switched yards again to join James Fanshawe in Newmarket.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/dec/31/talking-horses
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