The prospect of good ground has
attracted plenty of runners to Kempton on Tuesday and the Protan,
Ahead of the Rest Handicap Hurdle (4.30) looks competitive enough for
us to have a look for one or two likely outsiders.
The first one that catches the eye is
Victor Dartnall’s 11-year-old Shammick Boy, who’s undeniably well
handicapped on the form of his course and distance win last February,
but, frankly, has shown so little in five starts this season that he
cannot be recommended at any price. Of course, he could pop up at
silly odds but, for once, we’re happy to risk having egg on our
faces by writing him off.
Howaboutnever drifted alarmingly
in the betting before finishing tailed off at Wincanton earlier this
month, so either the good ground was too fast or somebody knew
something that wasn’t apparent from his previous form, which was,
in fact, highly respectable. He’s only 5lb higher in the weights
than when beating subsequent Imperial Cup third Spice Fair in a
veterans’ handicap hurdle, over 2 miles 4½ furlongs, at Newbury in
March, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in the betting
this time. His jockey, Harry Teal, simply reported that the gelding
was never travelling at Wincanton, but that form was just too bad to
be true.
Willem has yet to win in 11
starts for David Pipe, but the French import has gone well fresh in
the past, so an absence of 146 days may not be much of a worry and
the 6-year-old looks reasonably treated on the pick of his British
form. Conditional jockey David Noonan doesn’t have a great strike
rate for the yard, but his 5lb allowance will certainly help as will
the return to faster underfoot conditions.
Selections: Kempton 4.30,
Howaboutnever, Willem
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