Flow with River at Kempton

WITH a track record of two wins from as many starts, it is safe to assume RIVER FROST (Kempton, 2.40) has been saved for a tilt at today’s 32Red Lanzarote Hurdle. The six-year-old has not been seen since catching the eye at Chepstow on his seasonal return in a valuable handicap that could barely have worked out any better. Seven of the runners that day have produced 11 victories between them since tackling that event, including Sam Spinner, who is now towards the head of the market for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The likes of recent Cheltenham scorer Wholestone, Louis Vac Pouch (winner at Aintree) and Old Guard have all emerged from the race, which was run at a strong gallop. Unfortunately for connections, the handicapper also felt River Frost came out of it with plenty of credit because he has been nudged up 3lb to today’s mark of 145, a move which meant his trainer Alan King (below) needed to guard his rating to run him today. Thankfully, conditions look perfect for River Frost to deliver a prominent display as he was only beaten eight lengths in last year’s Coral Cup and was impressive in both previous visits to the venue.