2:35pm Friday 20th January 2012
STOPPED Out must go close in the Richmond Beginners’ Chase at Catterick.
One blip at Hexham aside, the Kate Walton-trained seven-year-old has made quite a tidy start over fences.
His second-placed finish behind Notus De La Tour at Carlisle now looks impregnable, while it was a similar story at Wetherby over Christmas.
Stopped Out jumped with much promise in a two-mile beginners’ chase, finishing half a length behind the decent Empress Orchid, and looked in need of a more exacting examination of stamina.
Walton is clearly thinking along the same lines by stepping him up in distance at the North Yorkshire circuit.
From what we have seen so far, it would be rather disappointing if this 135-rated hurdler does not prove a bit sharper over fences.
Lord Villez, meanwhile, can dish out weight and a beating in the Goodbye 32 Hello 33 George Primarolo Birthday Handicap Chase.
Ferdy Murphy’s streetwise eight-year-old is at the summit of the weights with just cause, having shown a fine level of form since being chasing, and served notice his time is near again at Newcastle last month.
Lord Villez finished third in a two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase, but is not short of pace and will have no issues reverting to two miles here off the same mark.
He also goes particularly well on soft ground.
It may be a case of jumping upon the bandwagon, such has been Venetia Williams’ hot streak, but Mentalist appears to have a decent chance at Chepstow. Williams has made a startling beginning to the year, and can further add to her winning haul in the Happy Birthday Andy Parry Of Ideal Group Juvenile Hurdle.
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