Politologue set to make amends for Aintree slip

POLITOLOGUE looked set for Grade One glory at Aintree in the spring only to stumble after the last, but compensation awaits in the 188Bet Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter.

The six-year-old was in the lead and settling down for a battle on the run to the line in the Maghull Novices’ Chase, but he lost his balance after jumping the final fence, unshipping Sam Twiston-Davies and presenting the win to stablemate San Benedeto.

Paul Nicholls still won the race but he must have been a bit disappointed that this fellow could not recover given he had previously finished a fine fourth in the two-and-ahalf-mile JLT at the Festival.

Despite having won up to two miles and five furlongs, the drop back to two miles at Aintree appeared to bring out the best in Politologue, so sticking at that kind of trip on his return here makes perfect sense.

The conditions of the race put him in a handy position and while he might struggle to deal with Altior in the better events later in the campaign, this can be a nice starting point with plenty of options to look forward to where he can gain revenge on his stablemate.

With the stable in great form now looks a good time for Fergal O’Brien to send Barney Dwan back over fences in the 188bet.co.uk Novices’ Chase.

He is taking on some classy opponents but falls into that category himself. Unfortunate on two occasions last season, when brought down at Wincanton and unseating at Warwick, he then went back over the smaller obstacles.

Showing his class, he was beaten only by the potentially top draw Presenting Percy in the Pertemps Final in March and he might have too much speed for Ballyoptic.

Ninjago appears to have hit his stride in the latter half of the season and he can keep up the good work in the 32Red.com Handicap at Kempton.

The seven-year-old is a well-travelled individual and given this will be his 53rd start, he has no secrets from the handicapper any more.

It did look as though Paul Midgley was fighting something of a losing battle with Ninjago as he had not actually hit the target in any of his 24 starts for the team since switching from the care of Richard Hannon.

However, his lack of success saw his mark slide from a high of 105 back in 2014 to a relatively lowly perch of 78 at Newmarket in July and Ninjago duly took full advantage by notching a narrow victory in what was a decent event.