Hard to Forget at Plumpton
The race of the day is Plumpton’s Sussex National, where it may pay to follow a younger, progressive animal.
Henry Oliver’s Hard To Forget arrives for the three-and-a-half-mile marathon, off victories at Hereford and today’s course.
The handicapper has had his say, of course, and the seven-year-old was raised 9lb for Hereford and eight more for the course effort.
But when you consider that he was a 16-length winner at today’s venue in testing conditions, he could still be on the upgrade.
Highway One O Two faces a stiff task in the opening novice hurdle. But Chris Gordon’s string are in fine form and he could defy a penalty.
The opposition hardly invokes fear, modest as most of them seem to be, and the selection was most-impressive in earning his penalty.
That was over today’s course-and-distance on heavy ground, when Gordon had the first two home, the selection 19 lengths clear of Mount Windsor.
Who Dares Wins should be a penalty-kick, if he can translate his flat and hurdle form to fences, where he has already been encouraging.
His steeplechase debut at Kempton saw him fail to get to Master Tommytucker by half-alength. That winner has two Grade 1 Cheltenham entries.
SELECTIONS
NAP – Hard To Forget (Plumpton 2.40).
DOUBLE – Highway One O Two (Plumpton 12.40).
TREBLE – Who Dares Wins (Plumpton 1.10).
LaTE WIrE
Tranchee has a rating of 74, based on some good Irish form, and Jason Hart is an interesting jockey booking for the novice at Southwell. SELECTION
Tranchee (Southwell 1.0).