Doyen to raise the bar

Doyen Du Bar is going chasing for the first time at Carlisle today but it will be disappointing if he fails to oblige in the Daily Charged Up Offers At Rhino.Bet Novices' Limited Handicap Chase.

Already an eight-year-old, Pauline Robson's charge will be having just the sixth race of his life. In those fleeting appearances, however, he has shown more than enough ability to suggest he is capable of being pretty decent over fences.

A winner on his racecourse debut in a bumper at this venue, he then had a year off before finishing third under a penalty at Kelso. He then had another two years off before his hurdles debut back at the Borders track when second and he took a step forward to win next time at Ayr.

Robson then found a weak race for him with a penalty at Kelso and while he was odds-on, he looked in a different league to his rivals, making all for a 17-length win.

It is a strange time of the season to be going chasing, but he is clearly a fragile type and while he is fit and firing connections may as well crack on, because he is surely better than a mark of 126.

Jimmy Moffatt's Lunar Discovery can defy top weight in the Rhino.Bet British Stallion Studs EBF Mares' “National Hunt” Novices' Hurdle.

Charlotte Jones gets a great tune out of the seven-year-old and she was only denied a hattrick by Nicky Henderson's Pawapuri in a Listed event at Haydock on Betfair Chase day.

Raised 4kg for that effort, she has been given plenty of time to get over those exertions, but this mud-lover has conditions in her favour and will take all the beating. -