DAILY RACING PREVIEW BY ANDY HOLDING
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 25
2.30 BANGOR
A nasty little race to pull apart, but THE HAWKSTONIAN looks to be overpriced on the evidence of his recent win at Ffos Las and he deserves to be played accordingly.
In-keeping with many of his trainer’s novices this season, Ben Pauling’s inmate is progressing nicely from run to run and his latest performance at the Welsh venue was a much better one than his two previous starts over hurdles.
Apparently, the son of Jukebox Jury works like a ‘rocket’ at home but he failed to realise his potential over 2m4f at Sedgefield and Huntingdon, but over two miles and with the addition of a tongue-tie, he showed his true worth with a battling display to fend off the challenge Emerald Breeze and the strongly fancied, Turenne.
Clocking a useful speed figure in the conditions 26 days ago, he faces two nice novices who are improving, but not out of the ordinary by any stretch of the imagination and hailing from a stable that are currently operating at 33% strike rate, the six-year-old grey can keep up the good work.
THE HAWKSTONIAN – 1-point win@5-1
6.10 KEMPTON
KINGDOM COME hasn’t been seen out since running better than his finishing position suggests in a warm race over today’s C&D back in November, but a chance is taken on Clive Cox’s inmate being fit enough to do himself justice in a contest well within grasp.
The seven-year-old has developed into a bit of a sluggish starter in recent times and in big fields, his chances of being competitive have, as a result, been severely compromised due to where he has been positioned at halfway.
His latest effort at tonight’s Sunbury venue was a classic case in point when he found himself in the cheap seats after the early skirmishes and even though he tried valiantly to cut back the lost deficit late on, the dye was cast as far as winning was concerned.
Still, it was a decent effort from a horse who clearly retains plenty of ability and with the theory of tonight’s small field resulting in him not being as far back as he has been of late, at least he should have some sort of chance of being more competitive.
KINGDOM COME – 1-point win@11-4