GYTO Friday Notebook Double

It was no surprise to see SMOKY MOUNTAIN sent off a warm order at Wolverhampton last time given the promise he showed on debut when fourth at Southwell. He is getting better with experience and Girl Racer who beat him last time ran creditably in the Nell Gwyn so the form stacks up. His main market rival carries a penalty here so it looks a really good opportunity for him to go one better now. The danger United Approach did impress winning readily at Ayr but that was over 7 months ago so he lacks a run as well which makes this quite a tough ask. It isn’t just a two horse race though as Desert Games showed enough on return when beaten less than a length at Pontefract to think he could be a danger too. Leap Day ran well at big odds on debut but he’ll need to improve a fair bit on that to win this as it looks quite a decent race.

I was lucky enough to be at Cheltenham on the Wednesday last month and there was a good word going around for LECKY WATSON in the Champion Bumper. He was sent off at 80/1 and for a second I thought he was coming to win the race. He was badly hampered when picking up but still ran a big race to finish fourth. That form has obviously been advertised since with A Dream To Share following up and while he isn’t in the same league as that horse he is still open to further improvement and should go some way to justifying favouritism in this. The danger looks to be Quantum Storm who chased home Giovinco in a point to point who looks a very promising young horse now and then bumped into Ballyburn at Punchestown. He has more to come and should run well. Irish Panther also looks to have a bright future and is another one to note in a tricky finale.