You obviously have to be wary of the two newcomers but I’d like to think my filly is very much the one to beat in here, even with her 7lb penalty. She got that for winning on her hurdling debut for me at Doncaster and I was quite taken by the way she jumped, travelled and put the race to bed when asked. The likely testing ground is an unknown – she didn’t race on anything worse than good to soft on the Flat – but there is only way to find out.
He didn’t run anywhere nearly as poorly as the bare form would suggest at Cheltenham as his saddle slipped on jumping the last, and his victories either side of that start were obviously very pleasing. He has gone up 3lb for his Doncaster win last time but that looks fair, and hopefully he will be as effective on this softer ground. He is a 7yo with few miles on the clock, and I’d be hopeful there is plenty more to come from him. It’s a hugely competitive race, though.
We also had Bold Endeavour in here at the five-day stage but he went to, and won at, Doncaster on Tuesday but Quick Draw has very solid claims in his own right. He won on soft ground over hurdles and he followed up his second here on his chasing debut with a cosy enough, if narrow, win last time. The runner-up ran well in defeat next time so I’d be confident enough that he will put up another good showing, even if a 6lb rise for the win last time was probably the most he could have got.
