Warwick & Tramore – Thursday 9th December

It has been a month that has really struggled to get started in the last couple of days as the racing has been both tricky and complex to decipher. As a result, I thought it was the best idea to apply the handbrake to selections over the last two days, and to allow the action to take place without a vested interest. However, there is some good jumps action coming both in Britain and Ireland today, and I have come up with three selections between Warwick races and Tramore to get stuck into. 

Starting off with Warwick, and the first race of note from a punting perspective is the 12.50 race, which is a 2m5f maiden hurdle and looks a good race on paper. There are plenty of exciting types in this line-up, including Our Jet, who pushed the exciting Hillcrest close at Aintree last time outl. However, I am going to be siding with Kyntara, who should be much more at home on this softer terrain and won at this track impressively last season. I think plenty were blown away by this gelding’s bumper win here, when destroying a decent field by 17 lengths. He slightly fluffed his lines on hurdling debut, when not jumping with enough conviction to trouble the judge at Lingfield. However, he should strip a lot fitter for that run and most importantly, the ground is now in favour. At a standout price of 7/2 with William Hill, he looks like a bet. 

The 2.00 race at Warwick is the feature race on the card and this 2m4f Listed Mares Novice Chase has attracted a good field of 8 to post. Included in that is the Irish raider, Kapard, who won on her chase debut last time out. However, I wouldn’t be convinced by that form and she has much more to prove in this line-up. The Glancing Queen is probably the standard bearer, for an in-form outfit, but she is too short to be lunging in. Going down the list, I think there are possibilities of a big run from Clondaw Caitlin, who looks overpriced in this race for the Ruth Jefferson yard. She made a good introduction to chasing last term before meeting with a set-back, which put her back over hurdles for a few starts. She was second to Little River Bay at Uttoxeter last time out, who she opposes again today, but she has a small swing in the weights and is bound to enjoy the softer going. At a price of 14/1 with Bet365, she looks a fair each way price. 

Moving over to Tramore, where I have just one selection and it comes in the lucky last, the bumper that goes to post at 3.45. Viva Devito is a fascinating contender in this race, having finished an honourable fourth on his only start for Gearoid O’Loughlin at Punchestown last time out. He has subsequently been sent to Willie Mullins, and must hold strong claims in this race. However, early signs were that the Gordon Elliot team liked Lieutenant Highway and after a muddling third on debut in a falsely run race, he ran a cracker to come third in a good bumper at Sandown. This looks like a step back down in class on this occasion and he has the assistance of top rider, Lisa O’Neill on board. Everything looks set for a big run and I would be disappointed if he didn’t come close to making it third time lucky. He is a standout price of 10/3 with Bet365, which is fair.