15:30
Kelso
Odds correct as of 2:18pm 24th Feb
Saturday was a good day for our team as Liam Bramall’s ante-post selection for the Ladbrokes Trophy obliged at odds of 3/1, having been initially selected at a much bigger price of 16/1. He’s back with another ante-post pick for Saturday’s racing and has turned his attention to Kelso’s Morebattle Hurdle. It’s a £120,000 handicap and there’s a progressive novice who could take all the beating. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Captain Hugo (14/1, bet365) has earned a rating of 129 in four starts over hurdles and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he goes on to become significantly better than that mark suggests. Grade 1 novice hurdles are probably a bit beyond him so the switch to handicaps looks like the right way to go.
He was an impressive winner of a bumper at Worcester in May and and he followed up over hurdles at Newbury in November. Sinnatra finished second that day and he has since gone on to win a couple of times over hurdles and could be of interest in a handicap at the Cheltenham Festival.
Philip Hobbs & Johnson White’s six-year-old was second under a penalty at Aintree after that but returned to winning ways with a comfortable success under a penalty at Haydock. The son of Soldier Of Fortune has every chance when falling at Musselburgh last time and that might have benefitted his mark.
We’ll learn plenty about him on handicap debut here but there’s scope for further improvement and this looks like a good opportunity to show that. This will be just his fifth start over hurdles if he lines up and it would be unwise to rule him out.
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