Summer Jumpers to Follow

Sand Stormers / Rory Delargy / 23 May 2010 / Leave a Comment

"He was a rather tame finisher in his time with his previous yard, but that was a charge regularly levelled at the Carl Llewellyn stable due to his perceived sympathy with the runners under his care. There can be no trainer in the country better equipped to bring his charges to a new level of fitness than Vaughan, however, and Master Charm is fancied to fully deliver on the promise of his youth."

Summer has arrived in spectacular style in the last few days and most normal racing people (is that an oxymoron?) are thinking ahead to Epsom, Ascot and Goodwood, but our incumbent flatophobe has his eyes fixed firmly on Stratford where the finale of the Hunter Chase season can provide cult hero Godfrey Maundrell with a fitting swansong.

Follow: Lisadell King 10 bg (Godfrey Maundrell):

Absolutely no apologies for including Godfrey Maundrell and his star performer in this week's list, although he will only have one chance to prove his worth when he contests the prestigious pointtopoint.co.uk Champion Novices' Hunters' Chase at Stratford on Friday. I've been banging on about the pair for some time and although Friday's test will be severe, Lisadell King showed with a staying on second to Take The Stand at Aintree last time that he hasn't yet reached the limit of his improvement and the extended trip is very much in his favour, especially given Godfrey's necessarily sympathetic riding style. The combination were successful at the track in April where Lisadell King showed a rare burst of speed to overhaul Von Origny on the run in and the only moment of worry for the veteran rider was when his mount took umbrage at the water jump on both circuits. Hopefully he will have learnt from that and a victory would be almost as popular in Point to Point circles as that of Tony McCoy in the Grand National.

Follow: Master Charm 6 bg (Tim Vaughan):

Tim Vaughan endured a disappointing season in 2009-10, not because he lost the knack of training winners but largely because of the expectation placed on him to move into the big league, particular with the high profile transfer of several Paul Beck horses into, and ultimately out of, his yard. That is all behind him now and he has resumed his customary mantle of summer jumping king with an impressive strike rate of 19 winners from his last 90 runners. One of those was Master Charm and the son of Smadoun looks one to follow after an impressive win in the Dunraven Bowl at Chepstow last time. The step up to 3 miles proved no problem to him and he tanked through the contest like a horse capable of winning many more races. He was a rather tame finisher in his time with his previous yard, but that was a charge regularly levelled at the Carl Llewellyn stable due to his perceived sympathy with the runners under his care. There can be no trainer in the country better equipped to bring his charges to a new level of fitness than Vaughan, however, and Master Charm is fancied to fully deliver on the promise of his youth.

Avoid: The Ferbane Man 6 bg (Tim Vaughan):

While the Tim Vaughan yard continues to clean up in summer jumping events, his runners will predictably be sent off at cramped odds but there are one or two from the yard who punters should be wary of, notably The Ferbane Man, who has plenty of talent but a measure of temperament too. Throw in the fact that his jumping tends to fall apart when he's off the bridle (as at Fakenham last time) and he has the look of a horse to avoid. He has a respectable tally of one win and five places from his six starts under rules but looked hard work when notching that solitary win and has thrown away chances in several of his defeats. It's probably significant that he managed just the one win from fourteen attempts in Irish points too despite being fancied on each occasion, and he looks set for more frustration in the short term (entered for four races this week).