Handicappers' Corner: Oscar Rocks at Wetherby

Although the star attraction Long Run (c170) fluffed his lines in Saturday's big race, there have still been plenty of noteworthy performances over the past few days, particularly amongst the younger ranks. 

Unfortunately, the term "noteworthy" doesn't really apply to Saturday's showpiece at Wetherby, the Charlie Hall Chase, which turned into a substandard renewal following the uncharacteristically dismal display by Long Run (who reportedly scoped badly afterwards), with 2012 runner-up Wayward Prince (c156) coming close to springing a 50/1 surprise as he split the more fancied pair Harry Topper (c152p) and Unioniste (c148) despite conceding 4 lb to them both. That said, Harry Topper did well to recover from several early mistakes and is now unbeaten on all four completed starts over fences, so further improvement is almost certainly on the cards, though much more will be required if he's to develop into a Grade 1 contender. 

For example, Harry Topper is still some 22 lb inferior on Timeform chase ratings to Tidal Bay (c174), who tasted Grade 1 success on Irish soil last winter having earlier chased home subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Bobs Worth (c179) under top weight in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. The mercurial veteran was back in action himself at Wetherby on Saturday, when claiming a second successive victory in the West Yorkshire Hurdle with a last-gasp length defeat of Medinas (h155).

In truth, the West Yorkshire Hurdle (rather like the Charlie Hall) is unlikely to cause too many sleepless nights for connections of the current leading staying hurdlers - one of which, At Fishers Cross (h155p), was an eleventh-hour absentee on Saturday due to a slight setback. It also told us little new about Tidal Bay (h158), who has never been quite so good in this sphere as over fences, but he's now won four of his last five starts and the signs are that he retains all of his ability despite the fact he's now rising thirteen. In addition to that impressive recent strike rate, his willing response to pressure on the run-in gave further vindication to our decision to remove his Timeform squiggle last winter!

If anything, Timeform large "P"s are handed out even more sparingly than the infamous squiggle, so it says plenty for the two successful hurdling debutants who were awarded that symbol within the space of ten minutes on Friday afternoon. Oscar Rock was one of last season's leading bumper performers - only Champion Bumper winner Briar Hill achieved a higher Timeform rating - but it was still not hard to be impressed by his winning debut over hurdles at Wetherby, sauntering home by nineteen lengths on his first start since switching to Malcolm Jefferson's stable from Harry Fry.

By contrast, it was harder to get a handle on the previous form of Carraig Mor (h135P), who'd won an Irish maiden point last winter prior to joining Alan King's stable, but he's clearly built up a huge home reputation since then and it was easy to see why following his runaway win in a two-and-a-half mile novice hurdle at Uttoxeter earlier on the same afternoon. Wide-margin wins on bad ground can sometimes prove flattering, but the stoutly-bred Carraig Mor simply looked several classes above his rivals (despite still looking in need of the experience) and seems sure to take a high rank in the staying novice hurdle division this season.

Alan King saddled a treble on that Uttoxeter card, the second leg of which was a successful chasing debut for his smart hurdler Raya Star (c139p). Admittedly, runner-up Tanerko Emery (c140+) would probably have just prevailed on the day had he jumped the final two fences more fluently, but it was rather a messy three-runner affair and Raya Star still appeals as the better long-term prospect of the pair. 

King and stable jockey Robert Thornton might have been in luck there, but that certainly wasn't the case at Huntingdon forty-eight hours later when their very smart staying hurdler Smad Place (c138p) unseated at the last with a wide-margin win at his mercy. There were no such late scares for the Oliver Sherwood-trained Many Clouds (c138p) at Carlisle some fifteen minutes later, when he opened his account over fences at the first time of asking in highly satisfactory fashion against three rivals, a trio which included 2013 Pertemps Final winner Holywell (c127p) back in third.   

Sherwood was in double form at Carlisle, but the weekend's training honours undoubtedly went to Venetia Williams, who saddled a high-profile treble at Ascot on Saturday, the highlight being a lucrative success in the United Gold Cup by Houblon des Obeaux (c149), who joined Harry Topper in striking an early blow for last season's leading staying novice chasers (which, in truth, didn't look an outstanding crop). For now, however, we've taken a conservative view of this result, as this race hasn't always provided the strong form you'd usually associate with valuable staying handicap chases, probably due to fitness issues further down the field.

As a result, Houblon des Obeaux is unlikely be coming out with a clear chance at the weights on Timeform ratings once reassessed by the BHA handicapper, with the likes of unlucky-in-running second Merry King (c141), non-staying sixth Bless The Wings (c149) and early faller Buddy Bolero (c146) all making more appeal from a handicapping viewpoint in the short term.

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