DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
SATURDAY JANUARY 17
1.00 ASCOT
No prizes for originality here with THE JUKEBOX KID, despite his defeat at Cheltenham last time out, standing out as potentially still nicely ahead of his mark.
There could have been several reasons attributing to his demise as favourite at the Prestbury venue a month ago, but hopefully he can leave that run well behind.
Whether it was his propensity to edge to his right over his fences, chasing a hot pace when trying a new trip or the undulations, he ran nowhere near to the level he did when impressive on the figures at Carlisle previously, but today’s test should provide him with fewer excuses and a mark of 130 looks more than workable.
THE JUKEBOX KID – 1-point win@5-2
1.32 TAUNTON
NO RISK TODAY could never land a meaningful blow in a useful bumper around here on rules debut a month ago, but she did more than enough to instil a bit of confidence in her moving forward and she rates the play to back up that view on her hurdling bow.
Her 5-1 status in the betting suggested she had been doing well at home prior to facing the starter at the west country venue but in a well-run race, her track position ended up counting against her and she could only keep on at the one pace once straightening up for the judge.
Since then, the runner-up Religious Cross has gone on to hint that we are dealing with an above-average mares’ bumper and being a former point winner, hopefully her jumping will hold up at the first time of asking.
NO RISK TODAY – ½ point each-way@16-1
2.35 HAYDOCK
PHANTOMOFTHEPOINTS arrives here following a fall over fences, which isn’t ideal, but his previous effort when third in one of the most competitive handicap hurdles run so far this season makes him a more interesting prospect at the morning prices than it first appears.
Bidding to make all the running in that valuable prize back in November, David Pipe’s inmate had the field on full stretch going down to the second last but ultimately, he was running on fumes late on and he eventually got picked off by two ridden a shade more conservatively.
Looking back at the exploits of many in behind him that day, the likes of Nab Wood, Titan Discovery and Ma Shantou have all proven the value of the form and likely to be ridden in a similarly aggressive fashion on his return to the same C&D, a bold show looks in the offing.
PHAMTONOFTHEPOINTS – 1-point each- way@9-2