Nick Scholfield has an interesting book of rides this weekend across the Musselburgh and Taunton cards.
I’m flying up to Musselburgh on Saturday morning for what looks a really strong card and I’ve got three nice rides to look forward to.
The first is for Paul Nicholls in the 12.55 where I ride Coup De Pinceau in the maiden hurdle. I won a bumper on him earlier in his career and he’s been running well of late without managing to get his head in front. At the weights there isn’t much between the four runners with Another Stowaway’s run behind On The Blind Side the pick of the form shown so far. But he was disappointing when beaten at odds-on on his next start so all four should have a chance. The better ground will suit my fella though and will be one of the main reasons Paul has sent him up there for this race.
In the next race on the card I’m on Peter The Mayo Man in what again on paper looks a competitive race. I was really impressed with him when I won on him at Doncaster back in December last year and he comes into Saturday’s race relatively fresh after a nice break. He wants the better ground and Saturday looks like it should suit and Paul has a good record in this race winning it five times over the last 15 years. The ratings have four of the runners closely matched but as I said, my man took to chasing really well and this should hopefully be a nice stepping stone to some nice races in the spring.
The last of my Musselburgh trio is Dancing Shadow in the 15.15 Handicap Chase. He won this race last year off 4lb lower, but he won with a bit in hand that day so it shouldn’t prove insurmountable. It’s a decent prize pot for the winner and I know this has been his main aim for the season as connections would love to defend their crown. He’s proven over course and distance and I can’t see a reason why he won’t be bang there on the day.
On Sunday it’s back down to Taunton for two. Midnight Midge is the first of them in the 13.05 Novices’ Hurdle for Ron Hodges. It’s his first time over hurdles after two bumper runs and I actually won on his mother back in 2011 (makes me feel OLD). He’ll be better on drier ground later in the season but hopefully Saturday is a good starting point.
Finally for me it’s Daytime Ahead in the 13.40 Handicap Hurdle. She’s a really hardy, consistent mare who hardly ever runs a bad race. That does mean the handicapper knows where she’s at but I’ve won twice on her in the past and the race conditions should be fine and I’m sure she will run her race again on Sunday.
That’s it for me, hope you all enjoy a great weekend of racing and find a winner or two!
