Flame to burn brightly

A TERRIFIC weekend of National Hunt sport once more, with Kempton putting on a fantastic card filled with variety – the highlight being the William Hill Lanzarote Hurdle.

Warwick also have one of their strongest cards of the year, with the Neptune Investment Novices Hurdle (Grade 2) their showpiece, a race seen as a stepping stone to one of the novice races at the Cheltenham Festival.

A horse whom I have followed over the last couple of months is Swincombe Flame for the Nick Williams yard. With two wins and a second in three starts over hurdles the mare has a lot of class about her and was given a good ride last time out under Will Kennedy, who retains the ride here once more. She is stepped up in trip to 2 miles 5 furlongs and has the potential to thrive over that distance. The mare looks to be well treated and the same connections won this race last year.

Emma Lavelle has treated followers of the column well in the last couple of months and she has two more fancies, both running at Warwick. The first is Highland Lodge, who we tipped up last time out in a Haydock Novice Hurdle when he won in a convincing manner, beating two subsequent winners. He now has two wins from two starts after winning a point to point in Ireland last spring. The well bred son of Flemensfirth has a tough race on his hands here but, given the manner of his previous victories, he could be something a little special. Cotton Mill and Barbatos look to be the most dangerous opponents in what looks like a relatively strong renewal.

Her other leading fancy comes in the last race on the card, the bumper, where Le Bec looks an intriguing prospect. The yard has a 13% strike rate in NHF races, however a +£12.00 profit to a £1 stake looks a better statistic for a yard who often slip under the radar, which bodes well for us in terms of value. The yard has a decent record in Warwick bumpers and he should give a good account of himself.

Monarchs Way was successfully for us last time out, battling well when seemingly struggling with the Taunton undulations as well as getting hampered three furlongs out. His narrow winning margin means he is very well treated for this, his second run in handicap company. The form hasn't worked too well, but this beautifully bred gelding will surely have more to come for a training outfit going places. Stable jockey Jack Quinlan has a tremendous record with 14 wins from 33 starts for the stable, and an impressive £30.98 profit to a £1 level stake.

Educated Evans is potentially a decent staying chaser in the making, with two terrific wins in good company at Newbury and an even more impressive win at Chepstow. At Chepstow he was punted off the boards and duly routed a field of eight runners by twenty two lengths on good ground. The handicapper has raised him accordingly as a result but that might not be enough to stop him such was the nature of his dominance.

Selections Summary
Saturday, January 14:
12.50 – Warwick – Monarchs Way
14.00 – Warwick – Educated Evans
15.05 – Warwick – Highland Lodge
15.20 – Kemtpon – Swincombe Flame
16.10 – Warwick – Le Bec