coral cup

be aware very short. young horse that is improving through experience having run in some deep handicaps at the back end of last year and gets in here with a lovely racing weight but the market is paying an enormous amount of respect to a dan skelton horse in a handicap given how the last few years have played out in this race for him. he flies home over 2m in big fields but i don't really believe that means he will be suited by an extra 5f. has tried this trip before when getting beat by a nice enough horse in kamsinas but that was a bit of a sprint on a flat track as well so i think the trip is a big question mark for a horse that is 4/1 in a 25 runner race.

a wide open race as you would expect so i'm taking three here and still a big fav to lose. i was very impressed with the way impose toi travelled through the newbury win after almost a year off, jumping wasn't as fluent as you would hope but cheekpieces first time can help sharpen that up and there is no doubt in my mind that a 7lb rise doesn't get to the bottom of this horse, taken a fair bit of money with books this morning but price has held firm on the exchange, anything above 9 is good there imo. 

beat the bat is a big, strong horse that has been readily outpaced over 2m in high-end handicaps this season but he finds his feet and grinds his way back through the field each time. he doesn't have much of a gear chance so it's a surprise that he has never raced beyond 2m3f but he's such a big horse it has taken some time to strengthen up and it seems like the perfect time to be going up in trip in favourable conditions. his novice hurdle form was very strong and so is the 2nd he posted in a handicap over 2m3f at haydock in november. down 2lb, carrying a nice light weight. jumping not been superb lately but that's because the trips have been sharp enough for him now he's filled out. lovely bet at 10/1.

lastly i'm taking a chance on sandor clegane. a big weight to carry here but he's a graded horse and it shouldn't be much of an issue. he's travelled supremely well in blinkers in each of his last two runs without getting home over 3m in g1 and g2 races. the drop back in trip in what is likely to be a well run contest should suit him perfectly. 28 on exchange, drifted overnight quite significantly but i'm more than happy to take a discount on a horse i think is being overlooked.