Horse Racing Tips: Rhys Williams is backing a 20/1 French recruit at Chepstow

Plenty of promise on hurdling debut at Auteuil

Chepstow 13:40: Iroko 1pt win 20/1

Iroko is being thrown in at the deep end for his British debut in the Finale but the ability he showed at Auteuil suggests he can be more competitive than the market expects.

He made his debut in an AQPS flat race at Moulins and he was very green that day. He soon dropped to the back of the field and was pushed along. He made a mid-race move down the back straight to go into a fairly handy position but was soon outpaced in the sprint up the home straight and finished fourth.

He improved for that experience on hurdling debut at Auteuil. He raced in midfield from an early stage and was only a few lengths behind the leaders at the last hurdle in the back. Shaken along approaching 2 out, he jumped that in a share of second and he responded well to pressure but couldn't match the speed of Intense Raffles after the last and finished second.

The winner of that race has won again since while the third has won both starts since and the fifth and seventh both won next time. The fairly steadily run nature of that race wasn't ideal for Iroko so his performance can be marked up and his jumping down the back straight wasn't great so there could be improvement to come in that department.

There is a concern that Iroko might be at his best with a greater test of stamina than he gets today and he is making a negative trainer switch but I think the market is underestimating his chance given the promise of the Auteuil run and any 16/1 or bigger appeals.