Paul Ferguson has two selections for us on Boxing Day; Bellshill in the 2.00 at Limerick and Western Cape in the 2:15 at Wincanton. Compare odds and bet.
All eyes will be on Kempton on Boxing Day, but there are no fewer than 10 jumps meetings in all, in Britain and Ireland, on Monday.
Nicky Henderson saddles a couple of interesting runners on the feature card, namely Jenkins and Gold Present who are both worth noting. The former will be pretty short, however, while the latter faces much stronger opposition than when winning on debut at Doncaster.
Therefore, it is off to Wincanton for the domestic selection, which comes in the shape of Western Cape (2:15) in a strong-looking Pertemps Qualifier.
Pulled-up when failing to cope with the heavy ground at Haydock last time, this slightly shorter trip isn’t a concern and, with a fair bit of pace in the race, it should be run to suit this hold-up performer. Given his most recent effort, it is hoped that he is over-looked in the market and can be backed each-way. The drier the ground, the better for Seamus Mullins’ strong-travelling five-year-old.
Over in Ireland, a lot of the focus will be on Leopardstown (and rightly so), but there is a cracking Grade 2 novice chase from Limerick, where Bellshill (2:00) can make it two from two over fences, under Paul Townend.
The Grade 1 winning hurdler drops in trip slightly here and, while I think he will be better once upped to 3m later in the campaign (could have run in a Grade 1 over that trip at Leopardstown later in the week), he looks capable of maintaining his unbeaten record over the larger obstacles.
Boxing Day’s selections:
2:00 Limerick: Bellshill 5/6 PaddyPower
2:15 Wincanton: Western Cape 16/1 Bet365
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