14:20
Huntingdon
Odds correct as of 10:26am 05th Feb
There’s some quality midweek action on offer at Huntingdon on Thursday and their eight-race card features two Listed races. Amongst them is the Lady Protectress Mares’ Chase and the £50,000 prize pot has attracted some Irish attention. Leading trainers Willie Mullins and Gavin Cromwell are both set to send over a runner apiece. We’ll have a close look at the chances of both horses and offer a verdict. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
An easy winner of this race last year, Gavin Cromwell’s mare got the better of La Renommee by six lengths and she is in opposition once again. Brides Hill was third behind her at Doncaster on seasonal debut but was far from her best and should improve significantly for the run.
The form should be reversed this time around, especially if Brides Hill is in the same form she was when winning a Grade 2 at the Punchestown Festival, with a massively dominant display. Cromwell has won the last two renewals and this daughter of Dylan Thomas may well make it three-in-a-row.
It’s rare to see a Willie Mullins midweek British raid that doesn’t result in him having the odds on favourite. Hauturiere is actually the outsider of the field, despite winning a Grade 2 novice chase by 35 lengths last season.
Her seasonal reappearance was pretty underwhelming however and she’ll need to improve significantly on that effort. The fact that she weakened so quickly suggests that it wasn’t her true running however and we should get a much more competitive performance this time around.
Gavin Cromwell’s Brides Hill gets the nod from us, especially as he has a 75 per cent strike-rate at Huntingdon. Three of his four runners at the track have won and it would be no surprise if the mare follows up on her easy success last year.
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