Good Cause for celebrations
ALL FOR THE CAUSE (3.45) has
the class to take advantage of a
huge drop in grade and make a
welcome return to the winners'
circle at Ayr this afternoon.
Last time out at Sandown
George Moore's gelding was taking
on many of the south's top
guns in the £50,000 Sunderlands
Novices' Handicap Final.
Although All For The Cause
could only finish 11th of 17, for
my money he still ran extremely
well by making significant late
headway, prior to weakening on
the run-in.
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Barry Keniry didn't knock his
mount about once their chance
had evaporated, hence the selection
should hopefully still have
some spring left in his legs.
The west of Scotland venue
has been a happy hunting
ground in the past for Witch
Wind (2.10), fancied to take the
opening Handicap Chase.
Witch Wind hasn't exactly
been firing on all cylinders so far
this season, however there was a
hint he was returning to form
when fourth at Newcastle in February.
So many of Howard Johnson's
horses are steering jobs when lining
up in Novices' Hurdles and
Companero (2.40) seems to be no
exception.
Denis O'Regan didn't have to
shift out of second gear when
scoring on Companero at
Carlisle, such was the partnership's
superiority.
They have a half-mile less to
travel today, but with underfoot
conditions set to be nothing
short of desperate, the emphasis
will remain primarily on stamina.
Top Mark (4.15), who recently
opened his account over course
and distance, might easily followup
in the two-mile Family Fun
Handicap.
Lucinda's Russell's raider previously
won four races on the
Flat, a decent haul which he always
promised to supplement
when turning his attentions to
the National Hunt sphere.
Fans of old-fashioned type
chasers need look no further
than the swashbuckling Native
Coll (4.50) in the Scottish Handicap
Chase.
A great big bruiser of a horse,
Native Coll soars over steeplechase
fences with the pin-point
precision of a beast built specifically
to jump for fun.
Easily his most impressive triumph
was when sauntering to
victory over track and trip in the
early part of the month, a win
which gave clear notice of plenty
more to come.
Wolverhampton-bound King's
Fable (8.50) had no luck whatsoever
in running when a close-up
fourth on his latest Kempton
spin.
Rider Tom McLaughlin went
for a daring effort up the inner,
but it turned out he was driving
up a blind alley and had to switch
wide to find daylight. By the time
King's Fable got going again it
was effectively game over.
■ Kalahari King is likely to bypass
the Grand National meeting
and instead take his chance in
the Samsung Electronics Scottish
Champion Hurdle on April
19.
Having got off the mark over
hurdles in impressive style at
Musselburgh, the seven-year-old
proved slightly disappointing
when beaten on his next two outings.
However, trainer Ferdy Murphy
never lost faith in the gelding
and he ran a huge race to finish
fourth in the Supreme Novices'
Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Although he is likely to have
an entry in one of the novice
events at Aintree, Murphy is
more keen to go down the handicap
route at Ayr.
He said: Our favoured option
would be the Scottish Champion
Hurdle.
We'll have a good look at the
Aintree race once the entries are
out, but at this stage, Ayr is the
plan.''
One member of Murphy's team
that looks like heading to Liverpool
next week is Aces Four.
The nine-year-old pleased his
handler in a recent spin over hurdles
and has the totesport Bowl
as his next objective on Thursday
week.
Murphy continued: I was
happy with his run at Market
Rasen.
"It was his first run for a long
time and he is a very gassy horse
so I just wanted to get him out
and get a run into him."
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