Nico de Boinville: “He is weighted to go well on his return to hurdles”

KEMPTON

12.20pm

Fraser Island

He was a good middle-distance horse on the Flat and we were very pleased with how he had been going for us prior to his hurdling debut at Newbury, but I think it is fair to say that he won more easily than we expected there on soft ground that his form on the level suggested may not have been ideal. You could argue that it wasn’t the strongest juvenile hurdle the course has seen but he could not have done it more impressively or fluently in beating Sir Canford, who re-opposes here, by 11 lengths. He gets a 6lb penalty for that win and this will undoubtedly be a tougher assignment for him, but we have every right to be very hopeful after what he did last time.

1.30pm

Gowiththeflow

He ran no sort of race for me at Newbury last time, so the only real positive you can take from that is that he went down 2lb in the weights. So if he can bounce back to form then he has a very good chance off this mark on his hurdles form. He clearly needs to show a lot more than last time and prove he is the same force over fences, but this winning pointer certainly has the ability to be bang in the mix off 128.

2.40pm

Burrows Edge

It has been pointed out that he has a similar profile to our William Henry, who won this race in 2017 after coming back from fences, and hopefully, it will end in the same result. I wasn’t on board when he fell on his chasing debut at Ludlow last time but he looks to have been going really well there when coming down 4 out. He is just 2lb higher than for a good second here for me last season, and Thursday’s rain won’t have harmed his chances, as he has winning form on soft. He is weighted to go well on his return to hurdles, and he is a lightly-raced 7yo, too, so hopefully, there is more to come from him, too. I schooled him on Thursday morning and he was very good.

3.15pm

On The Blind Side

He was very impressive when winning over course and distance last season and he put a disappointing run in the Ladbrokes behind him when second at Ascot last time on heavy ground that wouldn’t have really suited. The winner there looks a pretty exciting prospect, so I think a reproduction of that run can see him be very competitive here, especially as small fields seem to suit him well, so the race cutting up a bit to just eight runners is a plus.