12:40 Uttoxeter – Smiths Cross 7/2
Normally I would be concerned by a chaser switching to hurdles for their seasonal reappearance, but the selection has gone well fresh in the past and crucially, a victory here should not impact his handicap mark.
A point-to-point and a bumper winner (at Uttoxeter), Smiths Cross made his hurdles debut back in November 2018 at Ffos Las after a 210 day break. He finished 2nd that day behind the heavy ground specialist, Remastered, who has proven to be a solid 130+ rated handicapper. More impressively, Smiths Cross had Good Boy Bobby two lengths behind him that day; that rival won both his subsequent starts over hurdles and he is now rated 146 over fences. It is worth noting that Apres De Leluge finished ahead of Remastered on his next run but he clearly performed way below expectations that day and gave APL weight.
He finished 2nd on his next start behind Secret Reprieve, who is a useful type, with the very promising Dominateur back in 3rd; that rival is now rated 141 over fences.
He disappointed on his final start over hurdles before switching to fences in October 2019, finishing a close 3rd in a novice handicap chase off 127. King of May (1st) has won subsequently, Esprit Du Large (2nd) went on to win the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase while they 4th, 6th and 7th have all won subsequently. This was another promising effort after a break which bodes well for today.
His form tailed off thereafter but he’s had wind surgery since then so they may have identified the problem. If that has worked, he could be hard to stop here in receipt of weight from Apres Le Deluge and Balagan. Smiths Cross has been racing against a higher caliber of opposition and I value true NH season form over form from the summer period.
Any rain would not hurt his chances as he’s proven to be effective on all types of ground.
Apres Des Leluge is the clear danger given his impressive win last time on stable debut, having shown some useful form behind some good horses for Hughie Morrison. However, he has to give the collection weight and Fergal O’Brien normally has his horses fully geared up for their first runs so I’m not sure if he’ll improve much for that run.
7:30 – Missthecuddles 8/1 EW
Missthecuddles makes her handicap debut here after running in novice company three times within 27 days. While she didn’t trouble the judge, she did show some promise which suggested that a race of this nature shouldn’t be beyond her.
She received an educational ride on her debut having looked a tad green in the opening stages. She was ridden along in the early stages after a slow leap, but she got the hang of things late on and stayed on at the finish under a considerate ride, eventually finishing 8th.
She improved to finish 4th on her next start where again she was pushed along in rear but kept finding for pressure, staying on strongly under Tom Bellamy.
Having looked a thorough stayer on her first two starts over 2m4f, connections dropped her back to two miles for her most recent outing. Unsurprisingly, she was outpaced as the field quickened but I’m of the opinion that she was dropped in trip in an attempt to receive a more lenient handicap mark.
Everything about her runs thus far and her pedigree suggest she’ll relish the step up in trip; she’s closely related to the 130+ rated staying chaser, According for Trev and she’s a half sister to Skipthecuddles; a 130+ rated staying chaser who is also trained by Graeme McPherson.
The trainer sends just the one on the 9-hour round trip to Hexham. He’s only had 12 runners at the track in the last 5 years, resulting in 3 wins and 2 places.
Tom Bellamy, who rode this mare on her second start, makes the long journey to Hexham for just one ride on the card.
Cheekpieces go on for the handicap debut – everything looks set for a big run.
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