Jake Price picked out a 7/2 winner in yesterday's column, check out his four tips for Thursday here.
2m4f Handicap Hurdle
14:10 Perth
Olly Murphy is the king of Perth with three winners from four runners on Day 1 of the Perth Festival, and that extends his overall record at the track for the 2025/26 National Hunt season to 15/34 (44% strike rate). A horse trained at Warren Chase who very much came to the top of my radar with this week in mind was KING KON OLIVER, and although this is a decent race for the grade, he clearly has fantastic claims.
This 6yo was recruited from Ireland for £54,000 in October, and he made an immediate impact for the yard in January when going to Fakenham and beating Willie Mullins’ odds-on favourite Clay Pigeons by 7.5 lengths. He disappointed next time out at Hereford when tackling his first handicap, but I would completely put that down to not handling the Heavy ground that day, so I am willing to put a line through it.
Last time out on a bit of a recovery mission he ran with much more promise however, stepping up in trip to 2m7½f at Uttoxeter. Connections clearly felt that he would go extremely close as he was sent off the 7/2f, but I just don’t think he really saw out that sort of trip despite shaping very nicely. If you subscribe to the opinion that he didn’t stay then it was a very encouraging run behind some nice horses such as Idefix De Ciergues (119) and Magical King (121) however, and off an unchanged mark of 116 this 2m4f test at Perth on quicker ground should be right up his street.
John Sillett Memorial Handicap Hurdle
14:30 Warwick
When J J MOON won over 2m5½f at Newton Abbot in October he very much shaped as if the step up in trip to three-miles was going to be exactly what he needed this season, and I very much think that he should have made that theory a reality.
In fairness his third placed effort on debut over three-miles at Newbury in November was a good one, as it was a decent race won by Keable (131) with Blue Capet (132) in second – but you could definitely argue that he didn’t put as much in as the two horses that finished ahead of him. You do have to excuse an effort at Doncaster at the end of December when he pulled up, but he showed more than enough back at Newbury last time to suggest that a win is coming.
Returning to the course and distance that he ran so well over in November, everything looked right for J J MOON to go and make amends – and he travelled supremely well under Harry Cobden. Once finally overtaking the favourite Peacenik (139) after the last the pair of them left themselves open to a closer however, and Lihyan (128) was able to come through to score by three parts of a length. I would definitely be looking to call his attitude into question following that effort as he clearly should have won, but cheekpieces now go on, and that should hopefully help him to put his race to bed at the business end. Off just a 1lb higher mark, this is his one chance for me in what is a weaker race.
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2m4f Handicap Hurdle
14:40 Perth
The second division of this 2m4f Handicap Hurdle doesn’t look as strong as the first, but the horse I really want to have on side here is TIMEFORTOM, who has some relatively smart Novice Hurdle form to bring to the table, and his mark of 112 looks ripe for exploiting with the unexposed angle at the heart of the case.
This Irish P2P winner ran an absolute screamer on his yard and Hurdles debut at Kelso way back in October, where under today’s rider Alan Doyle he pinged off out in front and was only mowed down in the closing stages by Conman John (135) – who of course went on to win at Cheltenham and place at Grade 2 level before picking up an injury. It is notable how well our selection jumped on that quicker Autumn ground though, and he was very unlucky not to get off the mark at the first attempt.
Following a 64-day gap he returned to the track at Musselburgh for a four-runner race, but it was essentially a match race with the two horses priced at 5/6f and 10/11. Once again TIMEFORTOM bucked off out in front and put in a nice round of jumping, but on that soft ground he could not escape the grasp of Red Oak (120), who stayed on to score by 3 lengths. The pair ran off levels that day so it looks a proper piece of form, and the winner has boosted the form since by scoring at Hexham.
Our selection unfortunately has a big P next to his name as he was pulled up at Newcastle when last seen in January 98 days ago, but there is a very valid excuse in that he bled from the nose, so I am more than happy to put a line through that run and just hope that it doesn’t happen again. The handicapper has been very generous in giving him back 2lbs, so he gets to run in here off 112, and Alan Doyle gets on board to claim a further 3lbs with Derek Fox suspended. In my eyes he has to be very leniently treated on his completed starts, and I can see him making all back on some nice Spring ground.
Mares’ Challenger Series Final Handicap Hurdle
15:30 Warwick
The news broke on Wednesday that Jonathan Burke and Fergal O’Brien will be splitting at the end of the season, so perhaps that has contributed to him riding GREYVAL rather than stablemate Siog Geal – but I actually thought that the lower rated Grey had very solid claims of retaining her Challenger Series Final title that she won at its usual home of Cheltenham 12 months ago.
This Mare needs three things; Hurdles, an intermediate trip, and good ground. If you string those three factors together then her record reads 32115, with the third place coming in a Richard Barber Memorial at Wincanton on her first attempt at that sort of distance. The most recent fifth was in another good race too, as at the beginning of the season she ran a brilliant race in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow off a mark of 125 – splitting Royal Infantry (138) and Take No Chances (148).
Unfortunately, instead of continuing down the hurdles route they decided to send her over fences, which she absolutely detested. Those two efforts threatened to derail her campaign as a whole, but following on from a couple of runs back over Hurdles and quite crucially a break of 78 days, I am hoping that she will be able to bounce back to life in the Spring. That certainly was the case last season where she defied marks of 114 and 118 at Chepstow and Cheltenham respectively, and she now finds herself back down to that mark of 118 following a muddling campaign. First time cheekpieces go on which should help to find further improvement, and the ground at Warwick will be perfect.
Challenger Series Mares Chase Final Handicap Chase
15:00 Warwick
When I saw THEONEWEDREAMOF win the Oddschecker Challenger Stayers Handicap Chase at Exeter way back in November the immediate shout from Harry Skelton was that she is a Welsh National horse, and whilst perhaps that overplayed her achievements somewhat, she still put in a really nice performance to beat Gyenyame (117) over the three-mile trip.
She followed that effort up in December when dropping back in distance to 2m4½f and only just coming up short to Party Vibes (125) in a very competitive Mares Handicap Chase at Cheltenham, but I very much believe she is a three-mile Mare, rather than an intermediate trip Mare.
After a break in the mid part of the winter attentions were very drawn to getting her qualified for the Challenger Mares Chase Series Final, and as such connections sent her to Ludlow in the middle of February. Unfortunately she was met with the Soft ground that they had been trying to avoid with her however, and after jumping out to her left throughout she ended up being pulled up - but she never travelled that day and clearly hated every minute of it.
Connections had to scramble at this point to find her another qualifier that would allow them enough time to get her ready for the Final, and so they decided to let her take her chance at Leicester despite the track again being the wrong way around. A late drift in the market was telling, but I thought Harry Skelton gave her a fantastic qualifying ride in third place as he didn't throw everything at her with a big future date in mind.
The form of that Leicester race is strong too, with the winner Taxus Baccata (110) scoring again since, and the second Molto Bene (126) also ran a blinder on her next outing when a neck second to Bluey. Stepping back up in distance to 3m1½f is going to be exactly what THEONEWEDREAMOF needs, she has been dropped down to a very tempting mark of 116, and the Good ground at Warwick provides ideal conditions. Live danger Edeiffs Rock being a non-runner is also a help.
