By George, He's Got It!

It hasn't been a great weekend for Kim Bailey, his pragmatic decision to miss the Cheltenham Festival with stable star Harry Topper backfiring when that one unshipped Timmy Murphy at Kelso yesterday, but I'm sure a Sunday winner will help put a smile back on his face, and he has good prospects of landing the 15:00 at Huntingdon with Smokey George.

The son of Kadastrof impressed when winning an admittedly weak race at Exeter in November, jumping better than his rivals before pouncing at the last to win with a bit to spare. I feel that effort can be marked up, as the need to bypass several fences due to low sun didn't play to his advantage for obvious reasons. That run came on going officially described as good to soft, and he couldn't match that effort in the mud at Wincanton next time, despite again travelling well. He has won on heavy, but Bailey feels that he's essentially a good-ground performer, and his absence since December has been planned to coincide with a spring campaign.

The mercurial (cf infuriating) Nick Scholfield is back on board, and his waiting style should again suit the shape of this race, with no shortage of prominent racers in opposition. Of the others, a case can be made for most on some formline or other, with Five Rivers well treated on the form he'd have shown at Kempton 2 starts ago, and Amroth Bay back to his last winning mark. Throw in unexposed handicap debutant Twyford and the consistent pair Last Shot and Midnight Macarena, and it's clearly an open race, but that quintet all have issues (can't jump, yard in woeful form, yet to show much, weak finisher, handicapped to the hilt) and Smokey George gets the vote. Those looking for an outsider could do worse than Time Do, who suffered a breathing problem last time, and is another who may well thrive away from heavy ground. His yard is back among the winners, and he looks saver material.

At Sedgefield, the pick of the card is a decent bumper at 16:20, in which Master Rajeem looks the pick. Bumper form can be hard to evaluate, but with a trio of C&D winners in the line-up, this one is much easier to assess. The marginal pick on form, Alan Swinbank's charge gained his win despite racing on the slowest ground, and the opposition he beat looked much stronger that the motley bunch slammed by Izzini earlier in the campaign. Enchanted Garden makes up that threesome, and he might prove a bigger danger despite running around in front last time. That was his third race, though, and he doesn't have the scope of the selection.

The market is made to some extent by Don McCain's newcomer Moss Cloud, who won an Irish point in January, but he's a 3m chaser in the making if pedigree is any guide, and it's debatable whether he will have the speed to deal with the sharp-looking Master Rajeem. For those who like an historical perspective, it's worth noting that while McCain took this last year, it's a race which Swinbank used as a prep for 2007 Aintree bumper winner Theatrical Moment, while another 4-y-o, Sir Tantallus Hawk, scored for him in 2008.

Recommendations:

Back Smokey George in the 15:00 Huntingdon @ [7.4] (NAP)

Back Master Rajeem in the 16:20 Sedgefield @ [2.84] (NB)