5:05 – Lilypad 2/1
A mare in great form following a win on the flat before backing that up with two second place finishes (1 on the flat and 1 over hurdles)
She was well fancied when finishing 2nd at Southwell 10 days ago. While the winner, Saintbury Lad, was a good one, Lilypad had quite a bad trip.
Jack Quinlan clearly wanted her to be up with the pace early, but that plan came crashing down at the 2nd hurdle; the horse to her left jumped right across her and squeezed her between two others. Short of room, Jack was forced to surrender her prominent position as she was forced back into midfield and widest of all.
Her jumping wasn’t the slickest, but the fixed brush hurdles can be off putting to some horses and they punish poor jumping more than traditional hurdles, so I expect a better round of jumping today.
As they turned for home, she was again forced widest of all to mount her challenge. Meanwhile, the winner had a dream run through on the inside.
Lilypad was clearly best of the rest that day and she is due to go up 1lb in the handicap.
Amy Murphy has been in good form since the restart; her jumps runners since the start of July have recorded form figures of: 2121212 She makes the 9 hour round trip to Newton Abbot for just 1 runner – it’s actually her first ever runner here. Likewise, this is Jack Quinlan’s only ride and the duo operate at an 18% strike rate and a level stakes profit of £44.21 when teaming up (last 12 months)
There are a couple of interesting rivals, but Lilypad looks the clear form pick in my mind.
overandclear.com 