Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
AYE AYE CAPTAIN
Mudlover Redbeard can bring back the booty from Haydock
CAPTAIN REDBEARD is fancied to come home with a wet sail in the Peter Marsh Handicap Chase (3.15, ITV4) at Haydock today.
Conditions on Merseyside will be soggy and the meeting must pass an 8am inspection, but like his namesake – Blackadder’s Captain Redbeard Rum – the Stuart Coltherd-trained nineyear-old isn’t scared of water.
Captain Redbeard ploughed through rain-softened terrain to land the Tommy Whittle Chase here before Christmas.
“He’s been a late developer,” says the nine-year-old’s handler. “But we’ve taken our time with him and hopefully he can keep on improving.”
Captain Redbeard didn’t get the breaks when sixth to Gas Line Boy in the Grand Sefton at Aintree two starts ago.
But his Tommy Whittle success – he beat Catamaran Du Seuil by six lengths – confirmed Selkirk-based Coltherd’s view that the son of Bach is still on the up.
The extra two furlongs shouldn’t be a problem to my selection, on whom Coltherd’s son Sam claims a useful 5lb allowance, and Captain Redbeard can register his third win from four visits to Haydock’s chase track.
LAST year’s Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock saw the emergence of Bristol De Mai as a major force in the jumps game.
Today’s contest had been the preserve of older horses until Nigel Twiston-davies’ star grey blew that stat out of the water as a six-year-old.
And removing the age trend, our likely winner still needs to fit these criteria:
■ Run within the past 42 days.
■ Won on heavy ground.
■ Scored over at least three miles.
Of the four who remain, Yala Enki has failed to convert easier opportunities than this and comes from a yard still struggling for form. Highland Lodge is an Aintree specialist through and through, while Fine Rightly prefers small fields.
That leaves us with Lucinda Russell’s (above) FOREST DES AIGLES,
who still looks well treated within the context of today’s race despite having risen 21lb since last October.
He jumps, travels and races prominently, so have 4pts win at 12-1 with Ladbrokes.
If all goes well here, the seven-year-old looks to have the Scottish Grand National at Ayr as a realistic long-term aim.