After something of a hiatus, the seventeenhands blog is back....
Pickings look rather thin on the ground at today's three jumps meetings, but there is one race of particular interest at Musselburgh. The sharp 2m on a sound surface looks certain to suit Ginger Jack, and there must be a chance that the handicapper has erred on the side of leniency with the 7-y-o's opening hurdles mark. The son of Refuse To Bend is rated 83 on the Flat, and has shown that he's adapted well to hurdles in a couple of sighters in novice company. On the first occasion, he was a creditable fourth in a C&D event won by Stylish Chap. The winner caused rather a surprise there, and hasn't gone on, but the second and third brought solid form, and Ginger Jack would have been closer but for making his only error at the last when trying to challenge.
Stamina is clearly a slight concern for the gelding in his new discipline, and he again failed to see things out thoroughly when third on heavy ground at Ayr last time, but that represented an improvement in form terms, and the way he jumped and travelled was most encouraging. It was also notable that he wasn't at all knocked about when his winning chance had gone there, and those in-frame efforts allow him to go straight into handicaps.
The assessor has simply taken his hurdles form at face value, and allotted him a mark of 108, which is extremely lenient based on his Flat exploits. The conundrum for punters is whether his stamina limitations will mean that he is permanently compromised as a hurdler, or whether he will be capable of much better form when speed is at more of a premium. My position is firmly in the latter category, and I saw enough last time to think that the Keith Dalgleish-trainer runner is something of a handicap snip, with the booking of Denis O'Regan looking the icing on the cake. O'Regan has few peers when it comes to settling keen sorts, and Ginger Jack looks the ideal vehicle for his skills.
Recommended: 2pts win Ginger Jack @ 5/2 (BetBright - BOG)
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