Uttoxeter and Wetherby provided the national hunt action on Friday and we were treated to some extremely taking performances from a pair of novice hurdlers in Carraig Mor and Oscar Rock. Both horses obviously possess the potential to take high rank among this season's novice hurdlers, and won't have been missed by many, so there seems little point in highlighting them for the purposes of this column, but it could still be worth focusing on the race won by Oscar Rock as there was another horse that produced a noteworthy effort.
Unsurprisingly given his bumper exploits, Oscar Rock was sent off at a short price, but Straidnahanna, a winning ex-Irish pointer making his Rules debut at Wetherby, matched strides with the hot favourite for a long way, shaping much better than the bare result as he eventually weakened to finish fourth. Straidnahanna impressed with the manner in which he travelled, and the fact he was largely accurate over his obstacles was another positive aspect of the performance. It is to Straidnahanna's credit that he managed to keep tabs on such an exciting prospect for so long, and Sue Smith will surely find him an easier opportunity in the coming months.
Straidnahanna seemed to endure a fairly tough race at Wetherby, so he may be given a bit of time to recover, but it is worth remembering that it was his first race under Rules so he could benefit from the experience and he remains open to plenty of improvement.
Timeform Jumps Notebook:
Shutthefrontdoor - Impressive winner on chase debut and could take high rank among novices.
Straidnahanna - Paid the price for trying to live with top novice prospect but showed plenty of ability on debut.
Have you checked out our new, improved Facebook page? It's the place to go for our features & tips!
