Veterans’ chases have become quite a
welcome addition to the jumping calendar, with several old stagers allowed a
more realistic chance of being competitive against horses of similar ilk, and
Sandown stages such an affair on its all-chase card at 15:00. Several of these
are sharply in decline, and neither Mad Max nor Gwanako look quite the horses
they were when in the first flush of youth. Pigeon Island is another who has
tasted glory on the biggest stage, but has had a lot of racing for one of his
age, and the one who looks most likely to rediscover his best is Laura Young’s Tail of The Bank, who is lightly raced
and is only having his twelfth outing over obstacles today. He was a promising
novice in 2010/11, when runner-up in the valuable Greatwood Gold Cup at
Newbury, and has hinted that all his old ability remains in 2 runs this term.
At Chepstow last time, he made a threatening move on the turn for home before a
residual lack of fitness told, and a drop of 4 lbs for that run looks quite
generous in the circumstances. He does need to prove that he can handle a
right-handed track, as all his runs have come anti-clockwise, but that’s a risk
worth taking for a horse who may, rather strangely for a race like this, still
have his best days ahead of him.
In the following contest, it’s easy to
give chances to most of the field, but the more I look at the race, the more I’m
inclined to believe that Mister Hyde
remains on a lenient mark despite taking what looked a harsh 13-lb rise for
winning at Kempton last time. He proved on that occasion that he truly stays 3m
(had been a weak finisher in the past), and I was particularly taken with how
easily he seemed to jump out of very deep ground there. Condition will again
place a premium on accurate jumping, and in that regard, Mister Hyde looks solid – more so than Summery Justice, who would
be my idea of the fly in the ointment, but can still make the occasional bad
error. Brackloon High had no excuses behind the selection at Christmas, but has
paid him a handsome compliment by winning over the same C&D next time, and
that form was further boosted when Politeo, a place in front of Noel Chance’s
charge at Kempton, was successful at Wincanton during the week. If those form lines can be believed, then Mister Hyde is still a step ahead of
the assessor. Let’s hope so.
Recommended Bets:
Back Tail of The Bank in the 15:00 Sandown @ [5.6] (NAP)
Back Mister Hyde in the 15:35 Sandown
@ [5.9] (NB)
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