In a rare turn of events, the Scottish Champion Hurdle (14:40) contains a genuine contender for the Cheltenham equivalent. My Tent Or Yours might well have been the Champion Hurdler had he settled better when a narrow runner-up in the race and it's presumably hoped that the fitting of a hood will rectify his hard-pulling ways. They seem pretty engrained though, so at the prices a play on defending champion Court Minstrel makes more sense.
The feeling is that Court Minstrel is worthy of contesting a Champion Hurdle, but his style is simply better suited to these competitive handicaps, which allow him to suddenly pounce on his prey rather than toy with it. He showed as much at Aintree last week when taking a similarly competitive heat. It's not difficult to foresee a dramatic finish here, as McCoy will be in the unusual position of having to act first on My Tent Or Yours while Adam Wedge waits as long as he dares. Wedge has a fine record on Court Minstrel, seeming to have a better handle on him than stable jockey Paul Moloney, so we have faith in him getting it right here.
Sandwiched between two hot handicaps, we can be excused for taking a relatively unimaginative line in the Greenham (14:55), especially when it's with a genuine classic prospect in Kingman. He missed the autumn Group 1s due to a setback, meaning he still carries a Timeform 'large p' from his effortless Solario success in August. The fact that Kingman's greatest dangers are his own physical well-being (readiness is unlikely to be a major issue given the way the Gosden yard have started the turf season) and his relative inexperience says plenty about his prospects in the longer-term. He'll probably be the Guineas favourite if he wins the Greenham; we think he will.
We couldn't begrudge Tidal Bay what might be a last hurrah in the Scottish National (15:50), though we are cursing his presence from a handicapping viewpoint. Our selection Roalco de Farges would have been Timeform top-rated without Tidal Bay keeping the weights so high. As it is, Roalco de Farges is 5lb 'wrong' and essentially a stone higher than for his success at Newbury last time. Still, there was so much to like about that win that we still can't resist him even in this field. He was second to- who else?- Tidal Bay in the bet365 at Sandown a couple of years ago, that despite a haphazard round of jumping. Roalco de Farges arrives here fresher than most, raced just three times so far in what has been a comeback season (missed 2012/3 after that bet365 run) and is probably not yet fully exposed. Teenage Tidal Bay very much is.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
Back Court Minstrel in the 14:40 Ayr
Back Kingman in the 14:55 Newbury
Back Roalco de Farges in the 15:50 Ayr
