Shark Hanlon is one of the most colourful characters within the sport and he’s a pretty shrewd trainer of racehorses. Perhaps best known for taking stable star Hewick into his local pub, he’s a regular raider on these shores. He’s yet to have a runner at Taunton down in Somerset as of yet but that could change on Tuesday. Hanlon is set to send one runner over and Paul Nicholls’ daughter Olive will be on board. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Taunton isn’t exactly an easy place to get to from his County Carlow base and the 602-mile round trip is sure to be a costly one. Connections will therefore be hoping for a big run from A Mere Bagatelle. The seven-year-old’s form is a bit of a mixed bag but there’s enough evidence to suggest he’s capable of winning a race of this stature.
He’s winless over hurdles since scoring at Cartmel in 2022 but scored over fences as recently as last June. Winning by seven lengths that day, it was an impressive performance and he was also a good second at Killarney off a 10lb higher mark three starts later.
It has been a year since we last saw him over hurdles and frankly, the British handicapper hasn’t done him any favours with this mark. With that in mind, we probably need to see a bit more from him if he’s to come out on top here but victory isn’t out of the question. It’s interesting that Olive Nicholls takes the ride and it could be worth keeping an eye on A Mere Bagatelle in the betting.
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