DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2
5.08 NAVAN
It can be dangerous to assume good form over jumps is easy to translate going back on the flat but such is the discrepancy in favour of TIMURSHAH as he turns his attentions to racing on the level, he ought to prove good enough to justify the switch of codes.
The five-year-old made an immediate impact after being switched to join new connections, landing a competitive handicap in fine fashion at Clonmel back in June and since then, he has gone on to win three more races on the spin, latterly back-to-back events at the Galway festival.
Impressive in the first encounter on day one of the fixture a month ago, Aidan Melia’s gelding proved just as hostile to his opponents five days later, running right away with a similarly warm handicap and as a result of his exploits, he now finds himself on a revised mark of 132 – fully 40lb higher than when his winning spree began.
Given his current wellbeing, he could have easily have been asked to complete a five-timer over hurdles and while that task might still be on the cards at some stage during the autumn months, today’s assignment looks a perfectly viable one in the interim.
The booking of Derek O’Connor also catches the eye and certainly points towards a reasonable amount of intent.
Murat, a useful 125 performer over hurdles, arrives here following several decent efforts on the flat and, likely to be ridden aggressively from the front, he rates the obvious threat to the selection.
TIMURSHAH – 2-points win@2-1