McCoy Can Be Chepstow Hero

Today's always an exciting day in the Delargy household, not just because the Cesarewitch is one of my favourite Flat handicaps of them all, but that the Chepstow jumps card has long represented the start of the jumps season, since the days when the "Mercedes Benz" was the first big handicap chase of the autumn to be covered by the BBC cameras. ITV arrived a week or 2 later with the Charisma Gold Cup, and the winners (usually Broadheath and Everett in my youth) would be talked up as lively contenders for the Hennessy. Those were the days.

The other big race at Chepstow was the Timeform Free Handicap Hurdle, now run under the less-exalted title of Download The Betvictor App Hurdle, but the concept of a limited handicap for 4-y-o hurdlers is the same, and tens to produce a classy field year on year. The favourite in this renewal is Paul Nicholls' For Two, who is unexposed and has been talked up as a potential star by his media-savvy handler. His form doesn't entitle him to be favourite, however, and it's notable that he's not seen his races out as thoroughly as he might. Fences will be the making of him, but he's opposable today.

The form pick is Jonjo O'Neill's Another Hero, who hasn't had the same sort of campaign as most of his age, starting off in a bumper in June, and unbeaten on his first 4 starts all told. He was turned over on his handicap bow at Bangor last time, but wasn't suited by the way that race was run, and was far from disgraced in trying to concede weight to the useful Clondaw Draft, and the pair behind have run very well to be placed since, notably Splash of Ginge, who made Creepy pull out all the stops at Chepstow's last meeting.

Another Hero still has scope for further improvement bearing in mind that unlike most of his rivals, he was unraced on the Flat, and he can get back to winning ways with fitness guaranteed. He's one to remain positive about, not just today, but for the jumps season as a whole.

The old Mercedes Benz has also been renamed since my days in short trousers, and while the Follow Us On Twitter @betvictorracing Handicap Chase (17:45) doesn't have the same cachet, the quality of the field is well up to scratch.

The one who makes most appeal is the Emma Lavelle-trainer Court By Surprise, who is well treated on the form he showed when winning at Doncaster in December. The yard was under a cloud when he ran poorly twice in March, but while Charlie Longsdon is getting most of the headlines with his recent purple patch, Lavelle isn't slacking either, with her last eight runners producing six winners and a narrow (and painful) defeat for Qianshan Leader at Exeter on Thursday.

Court By Surprise, like several of Lavelle's recent winners, has remained on a winnable mark due to the stable's loss of form earlier in the year, and he can cause his trainer's smile to widen even further by bagging this valuable prize.

Recommendations:

Both at Chepstow

Back Another Hero @ [5.2] in the 16:45 (NAP)

Back Court By Surprise @ [7.0] in the 17:45 (NB)