The nature of racing on
a typical Monday makes life difficult when it comes to providing a
‘confident’ selection, but Dontcallmeoscar appears to have an
outstanding chance of defying a 7lb penalty in the Ladbrokes Amateur
Riders’ Handicap Hurdle (4.50) at Southwell. The son of high-class
jumps stallion Oscar is clearly thriving on his return to Dorset
trainer Mark Gillard and was completing a hat-trick when keeping on
well to beat Bach On Tow, by 2¼ lengths, on heavy going at Wincanton
last week.
The 8-year-old is
almost unrecognisable as the horse that lined up at Wincanton on
Boxing Day – a maiden after 16 starts, off a handicap mark of 78
and, justifiably, 33/1 – and looks one to follow until beaten. Of
course, adding weight will eventually stop any horse, but he’d
already gone 18lb when he returned to the Somerset track last
Wednesday, so it’s debatable whether a further 7lb rise will make
much difference, especially against limited opposition.
His inexperienced rider
has only had five rides over obstacles, but won on one of them and
Dontcallmeoscar seems a straightforward, honest type, who’s been
ridden to victory by conditional jockeys on his last three starts. He
does, however, like to race on, or close to, the pace, so hopefully
he won’t become embroiled in a battle for the lead with the likes
of Zero Visibility or Santo Subito, who’ve both made the running in
the past.
Selection: Southwell
4.50 Dontcallmeoscar to win
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