Moore to deliver history lesson

While it may not win any prizes for originality, Gary Moore’s

NATURAL HISTORY really does look a blot on the handicap in the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown.

Moore made his name winning these valuable prizes with unexposed young hurdlers, and Natural History really fits the bill.

Although in truth, we know far more about him than many of the handicappers Moore has worked his magic with, given he was a very capable Flat performer for Andrew Balding and sported the Queen’s silks. He actually only ran seven times on the level for Balding, but showed plenty of ability despite missing two years of his career.

Last sighted finishing second to a rejuvenated Euchen Glen in the St Simon Stakes at Newbury, it was disappointing he could only finish second on his first two outings over hurdles.

However, the key factor there was the ground – soft on his hurdling debut when narrowly beaten at Plumpton and heavy at Wincanton when the smart Lucky One beat him by 20 lengths.

Allotted a mark of 116 following those runs, he returned to Plumpton, crucially on good ground, and fairly bolted up, making a mockery of his rating and it is no surprise he has been put up 16lb.

As he was rated 101 on the Flat, though, there should still be more to come and the evidence of past runnings tells us we should be looking at the lower end of the weights in this race.

SELECTIONS

AYR: 1.57 Sophie Fatale, 2.32 The Ogle Gogle Man, 3.07 Caventara, 3.42 Dorking Boy, 4.20 Wetlands, 4.55 Las Tunas, 5.30 Arlo.

SANDOWN: 1.15 Hudson De Grugy, 1.50 Martinhal, 2.25 NATURAL HISTORY (NAP), 3.00 Flirtatious Girl, 3.35 No Getaway, 4.10 Eclair Du Guye, 4.45 The Russian Doyen. DOUBLE: Natural History and Martinhal.