Paul Ferguson has two selections on Saturday; Present View and Irving in the Kempton 1.30 & 3.15. Compare odds and bet.
Regular readers will know that I have been a fan of Irving (3:15) since his success at Taunton on debut and, though he proved to be a costly ante-post bet in the Betfair Hurdle, Paul Nicholls’ unbeaten hurdler is taken to make it four from four in the Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at Kempton on Saturday.
The six-year-old, who has won his last two at Ascot and finds himself prominent in the betting for the Supreme at Cheltenham, has to concede weight to smart ex-Flat performer First Mohican (a winner for this column on debut recently), but Alan King’s runner needs to take a big step forward here. The selection was available at 6/5 with Boylesports overnight.
Earlier on the card Present View (1:30) is worth backing in the opening 2m4f handicap chase, despite his lack of experience.
Jamie Snowden’s six-year-old split a couple of high-class novices on debut here in November (winner Annacotty has since won the Grade 1 Feltham here and third, Off The Ground, has won both starts since and they are now rated 146 and 147, respectively), form that make his look well treated.
He went on to score at Market Rasen, before failing to truly see out the 3m½f trip at Bangor last time and, though the ground is likely to be softer than ideal, everything else looks in place today. He will probably need to win this if he is to get in to the novice handicap at Cheltenham and is sure to be thereabouts. He was a 9/2 chance last night.
Saturday’s selections:
1:30 Kempton Present View
3:15 Kempton Irving
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Last years results included:
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