Thursday Racing Tips from Architect

SUNSET WEST (best price 8/1) has practically let down his supporters the last two times, returning a beaten favourite in each of those, but it’s possible a break and return to hurdles off a reduced mark will see him finally deliver the goods here. Phil Kirby’s charge has made the frame in all of his completed starts to date and should have the pace to cope with the drop in trip given how exuberant he was from the front when last spotted. His current mark of 114 is surely exploitable, especially upon reflection of some of his previous pieces of his form, so he shades the verdict. 

MANINSANE (NAP) (best price 3/1) is stepping up to two and half miles for the first time here but it could unlock further progress and the way he has shaped nicely in both chase’ starts to date suggests to me that his confidence has been fully restored since his unfortunate last-flight fall at Doncaster. I know he was a couple of lengths down to the eventual winner when he departed at the time but I still felt as though he would have overhauled the winner in the closing stages. That was from a mark of 116, so his current mark of 110 with Lilly Pinchin taking off a further five pounds, makes him extremely well-treated in this race. The Charlie Longsdon-trained seven-year-old must have excellent claims.