Charbel chance has right ring
NOEL FEHILY gave Charbel a cracking ride when he bolted up in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon, so it’s no surprise connections turn to the Irishman again in the Listed 32Red Casino Chase at Kempton.
Kim Bailey has done a great job in getting CHARBEL (2.05) back in the same sort of form he showed as a novice chaser when he gave Altior a fright in the Arkle Chase at the Festival.
Gary Moore has a fast-improving sort in KLOUD GATE (2.40), who runs off a mark of 127 in the Unibet Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle. This ex-French cheval bolted up at Leicester and Doncaster in December, and as he was rated 93 on the Flat, he looks well treated.
As the horse was second over two miles on the level at Newbury in July, this step up in distance should see him in an even better light.
With 13 heading to post for the McCoy Contractors Civil Engineering Classic Chase at Warwick, we can back COGRY (3.00) each-way at around 10-1.
Nigel Twiston-Davies’ beast was second in last year’s contest when rated
138 and carrying 11st 8lb. So he is entitled to go one better off a perch of
142, with only 10st 10lb on his back this time.
The 10-year-old comes into this race having obliged at Cheltenham in December off a mark of
139, so the assessor has been very fair.
On the sand at Newcastle tonight, PINK FLAMINGO (7.00) will carry my hard-earned in the Ladbrokes Handicap.
The top weight begins her three-year-old career on a mark of 67 and I’m sure she will be rated much higher by the end of the campaign.
She was fifth in a good maiden at York in August before getting stuck in the mud at Doncaster in November. Her best run last season came on her racecourse bow over tonight’s trip at Wetherby in June, when she was under a length behind a horse now rated 79.