Casino Looks A Money Spinner

The King George and Christmas Hurdle are two huge draws at Kempton today, but as usual, you'd need to have spent the last couple of months in Timbuktu not to have heard plenty of opinions on those contests, with only heavy ground providing any reason for a last-minute rethink. The ground would sway me towards Al Ferof of a pair I flagged up in early-October, but I'm happy to let others lead as far as the big race goes.

Of more interest from my punting perspective is the closing handicap hurdle at 15:45, in which Big Casino looks a tasty price. One of the most impressive specimens on show when Nigel Twiston-Davies opened his doors to the media a few days prior to Cheltenham's Open Meeting, the son of Court Cave, like many from the yard, was a bitter disappointment at Prestbury Park, but several of those who ran poorly that weekend have bounced back, and it should pay to ignore that effort.

Big Casino was an impressive bumper winner on debut for Keiran Burke (still Burke's only success in that sphere), and got back on track on his first start for the Naunton handler at Carlisle in October, beating subsequent winner Talkin Sence with plenty to spare. It wasn't a sharp rise in the weights which caused him to flop next time, where he simply never travelled, and the fact that the yard had just one placed runner from fifteen runners at the November meeting is enough to suggest that something, however minor, was amiss. The stable did much better at the International, bagging both races, and seeing all but one of the runners return to unsaddle in the winners' enclosure, which augurs well for the immediate future. Thoroughly unexposed after just a handful of hurdles outings, and with the physique to improve a fair bit further, the Casino may well be paying out today.

At Wetherby, another horse who can bounce back from a disappointing effort is Mister Grez, who gave Dan Skelton his first winner as a trainer at Ffos Las in October before running a stormer at Cheltenham later that month. The decision to go to the well a third time in quick succession at Sandown backfired, but Skelton, who has proved a revelation since that initial success, has sensibly rested the gelding since that outing, and he's been found a very winnable opportunity in the 14:55 contest, in which most of his rivals look handicapped to the hilt.

Mister Grez took forever to get off the mark for Francois Belmont, his sole success for that yard coming on his thenty-third and final run in France. He immediately looked an improved performer when scoring on his UK debut, and his fourth behind Balthazar King at Cheltenham was a taking effort in what was a very competitive race. He shaped as if not quite staying the stiff three miles there, and this shorter trip should prove ideal. With Sandown easily forgiven, it looks likely to be another payday for the Skelton boys, fresh from that thrilling Ladbroke Hurdle win at the weekend.

Recommendations:

Back Mister Grez @ [5.8] in the 14:55 Wetherby (NB)

Back Big Casino @ [20.0] in the 15:45 Kempton (NAP)