14:35 WETHERBY
It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but I do think GLOBAL FAME SP will do well to get beat in the 2m3f Novices’ Hurdle for Fergal O’Brien and Connor Brace.
The Fame and Glory gelding had three promising starts in point-to-points before winning on his first outing for his current yard when coming from last to first in a Bumper at Southwell in December.
He then ran very well at Chepstow on Welsh National Day when he stayed on encouragingly to finish second behind Harry Senior, who won a Grade 2 at Cheltenham next time out.
He’s clearly got ability and his best days are ahead of him, but he should, on all known form, win this race.
17:10 TAUNTON
The closing race on the card at Taunton is the 2m Handicap Hurdle for horses rated 0-115, with 112 being the highest rating among the six runners.
It’s a relatively weak contest, where the two horses carrying top weight would appear to want a longer trip. For that reason, I’m happy to ignore them.
FRESNO EMERY SP is rated 109 and had looked mildly progressive before his disappointing run last time.
However, having watched the race back, I’m willing to put a line through it. He led at the first flight that day and went wide all the way around before making a few jumping errors and getting tucked in.
He was eventually bought to the inside before turning for home, but that constant moving will do everything to upset a strong travelling horse who appears to do his best work towards the end of most of his races. Being made to race at various times in the contest simply doesn’t suit his running style.
He started the season rated 115 and didn’t run badly on his first two starts, including at Plumpton in November where he looked like he was going to win before making a hash of the last and losing his momentum.
He’s been off the track for 110 days which will have freshened him up and, if he’s had his jumping worked on, then he could give his conditional jockey Bryan Carver a good spin around.
His trainer, Robert Walford, has plenty of runners at Taunton, which isn’t too far from his Dorset base, and he comes here in good form with his last three runners all placing.
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