General / Andy Richmond / 31 January 2008 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Andy Richmond picks out four of the best from the last week's action...

One to watch at Cheltenham...
J'Y VOLE: it may appear that I have a fixation with the Mullins novice chasers this year but as hard as I tried to ignore the performance put up by J'Y Vole at Gowran Park last week it proved impossible. After the unfortunate injury to Glencove Marina, Willie Mullins has found a fine pair of deputies in Pomme Tiepy and J'Y Vole. Hopefully he'll split these two mares between the Arkle and Sun Alliance.

J'Y Vole maintained her unbeaten record over fences with another stylish and dominating performance, coming home in a time eight seconds quicker than the subsequent handicap. J'Y Vole already has Cheltenham experience, finishing fifth to Katchit in the Triumph Hurdle there last season. That showed she can handle the better ground so often prevalent at the Festival these days. She currently trades at [32] in the Betfair ante-post Arkle market and is a lively outsider for that race. Expect to see her next in the Dr P J Moriarty Chase at Leopardsown on the 10th February.

One to watch on the All Weather...
SILVER PIVOTAL: with an 8 month absence to overcome and just four races under her belt Silver Pivotal continued her upward curve with a very solid reappearance at Lingfield on Saturday. She is now undefeated on all weather surfaces, also winning at Wolverhampton last year. Her turf form is of good quality too, especially her effort at York in May 2007. Always travelling well here she have to wait for the gaps to open which fortunately they did and she displayed a smart turn of foot to win by a length from a decent performer in Alpes Maritimes.

Silver Pivotal should perhaps be given additional credit for winning on what always looks a slower strip of track nearest the far rail. Most of the winners on the Lingfield polytrack prefer to come down the centre of the track. Her rating of 98 here may have been a touch lenient on her overall form but even if the handicapper reacts with a vengeance to this performance Silver Pivotal will have enough improvement to overcome that - expect to see her next in the Winter Derby trial on 23rd February before she contests the Winter Derby proper in mid March.

Chasers to watch...
MALJIMAR: Nick Williams has some decent animals this year and Maljimar is at the forefront of those who will be further showcasing the talents of his small Devon yard. Maljimar had been threatening a performance like the one at Cheltenham on Saturday all season after being unlucky on a couple of occasions. After surviving a blunder at the top of the hill which checked his momentum slightly he soon ran away from a decent field to win by eleven lengths.

Obviously the handicapper will have his say on a performance such as this but Maljimar has room for improvement and connections were keen to target a race at Newbury over 2m 4F in early March. He's won at Newbury before, goes well on flat tracks, and it's interesting that connections targeted that race. Maljimar does need a gap between his races; all his wins have come when he is fresh after a break of 42 days or longer. Whilst on the subject of the Williams yard another of their inmates Mighty Moose is also worth keeping an eye on as he was very badly hampered in his last race at Newbury and used a lot of energy up just getting back into the race, I would expect him to be capable of picking up a race of 2M 4F at a slightly lower grade than Maljimar operates.

Hurdlers to watch...
ALONG THE NILE: for the money on offer, the novice hurdle at Musselburgh last Wednesday attracted a useful field and I'm sure that there will be plenty of winners from this race over the coming months. The one to pick out, though, is Along The Nile; an 85 rated handicapper on the flat. At his peak at around 1M - 1M 2F he came into this race unbeaten and therefore had to concede weight all round to some promising types and a stone to the winner (Halla San) who was his superior on the flat. The pace was sound and the front three pulled readily clear; the weight concession told on our featured horse, especially close to home, as he made a couple of small errors at the last two flights. He looks at home; not only around a sharp track such as Musselburgh, but also at the more galloping Newcastle where he won on his hurdles debut. This versatile sort will be winning more races again soon and he holds entries at both Doncaster and Musseburgh this weekend in handicap company.

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