We head to Ffos Last first up today for a maiden hurdle over two-and-a-half miles (14:15) in which Vermouth Bleu looks to continue the fine form of messieurs O'Neill and McManus after an excellent week at the Cheltenham Festival. The selection has yet to show himself to be in the same league as any of their recent winners, but he's improved steadily in his four starts over hurdles thus far and there was much to like about his second to Bodega at Ludlow last time. Jumping errors in the closing stages could have cost him the race but the way he stuck to his task was extremely promising and if he's able to tighten up his hurdling technique, he could be an interesting prospect for the future as he's clearly not wanting for an engine. Dream Deal and hurdling debutant Ashford Wood are both respected but the selection is expected to give us a winning start to the day.
We head north to Carlisle for our second bet, a handicap hurdle for novices over an extended 19 furlongs (15:05) and after the performance Island Heights put in last week at Ayr, its hard to side with anything else in the race. It would be extremely unwise to take the form at face value given he won by 24 lengths, but he was impressive visually and given he won on the bridle it looks likely there's further improvement to come from him. He will face a stiffer task today, but Lucinda Russell's charge only seems to be going one way currently and he has the potential to make a significant impact in handicaps in the future. He's expected to take this on his way to bigger and better things, although the thriving Mudita Moment merits respect and any market support for handicap debutant Vasco Pierji would be worth noting too.
We remain at Carlisle for the final contest under consideration this afternoon, an open hunters' chase over an extended three miles (16:40) and whilst the sprightly veteran Tartan Snow has sound prospects of building on his promising Kelso run if given a more positive ride, its better to side with Walden. He wears the colours or Ronnie Bartlett who tends to buy the cream of the Irish pointing crop (notably Simonsig) and he's been second on both of his starts under rules thus far. He was a strong finishing second at Limerick before narrowly going down in a hot contest at Musselburgh last time having conceded first run, and this looks a far easier race to win than either of those he's contested thus far. He looks capable of significant improvement and if able to build on last time's effort and iron out a few niggling errors in his jumping, he should have too much class in the locker for today's rivals.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
Back Vermouth Bleu in the 14:15 at Ffos Las
Back Island Heights in the 15:05 at Carlisle
Back Walden in the 16:40 at Carlisle
