AINTREE

3:10 JOHN SMITH'S 250TH ANNIVERSARY 4-Y-O NOVICES' HURDLE GRADE 1 (CLASS 1) (4yo) 2m

BINOCULAR 11-0 ~ Excellent effort last time out when finishing a fine 2nd in the Grade 1 Supreme Novice’ Hurdle. He looked like the most likely winner coming to the last but was outstayed up the hill by the eventual winner Captain Cee Bee. He was receiving 8lbs from the older horses but it doesn’t take anything away from a fine performance against the older horses in the most competitive novice hurdle of the festival. Even without his penalty he still comes out as the 3rd best horse in the race so he rates as a serious contender.

CELESTIAL HALO 11-0 ~ Classy recruit from the flat having finished 7th in the St Leger but judging by the horses win in the Triumph he’ll go further in this sphere than he did on the level. It was a fine effort to beat Franchoek and he was actually going away from him again at the finish so he isn’t short of stamina. The form is hard to knock although the proximity of Won In The Dark is a slight concern as Franchoek beat him 8 lengths earlier on in the season and he hadn’t been running with particular vigour in Ireland. However he won in taking fashion and is clearly the one they all have to beat.

CHORD 11-0 ~ Ran no sort of race in the Fred Winter but even his form behind Songe leaves him with too much to do.

FIRST BUDDY 11-0 ~ Interesting runner from a stable that knows the time of day and he broke his maiden with a procession at Bangor. The 2nd Tamimi’s History has franked the form by winning a novice hurdle but that Market Rasen race looked a weak one. A very unexposed 4yo he has since highlighted his well being by running a good race on the flat at Doncaster when the only horse to make an impact from the back. He could well run into a place but might struggle against the front two in the market.

HARPER VALLEY 11-0 ~ Improved considerably for the application of blinkers when beating Franchoek at Cheltenham earlier in the season. He was receiving 7lbs though from the Alan King gelding and whereas Franchoek has improved on that run Harper Valley was pulled up on his only subsequent run over hurdles. He bounced back to form when winning a spin on the all weather but he still has to find improvement to get competitive with Celestial Halo. A place may be the best the Irish raider can hope for but at least he didn’t have a hard race at Cheltenham so comes here fresh. However he still has to bounce back from a poor performance in the Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial at Musselburgh.

LUPANAR 11-0 ~ He surprised connections when making a fine debut behind Pasco at Newbury so he didn’t really need to improve to break his maiden next time out. More needed to get competitive and the fact the horse started at 40/1 on his debut suggests he isn’t a great horse.

MAKE HASTE 11-0 ~ Started 9/2 on his debut over hurdles so maybe better things were expected but he was well beaten in 5th behind Serabad (Pagan Starprincess 2nd). He wasn’t great on the flat and has to improve massively on his hurdle debut if he’s to get competitive.

QUILVER TATOU 11-0 ~ Bought over from France where he racked up a sequence of seconds in the French proveniences. Finished well down the field behind Chord on his hurdle debut and that gives him no chance here.

STAR OF ANGELS 11-0 ~ Stepped up considerably on his debut effort to finish 5th in the Triumph Hurdle. Looked a tricky customer when coming on and off the bridle but he is likely to prove better for the experience. So he should be able to improve on that form but it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll be able to reverse form with Celestial Halo.

PAGAN STARPRINCESS 10-7 ~ Produced an encouraging effort behind Serabad at Haydock and then finished runner up in the Grade 2 Kelso Hurdle. Graded races at Kelso aren’t the strongest of heats and although this was no different the front two pulled clear of the field suggesting both were above average performers. This is a whole different ball game and she looks likely to be outclassed.

CONCLUSION

The shortlist includes Binocular, Celestial Halo, First Buddy and Harper Valley.

Apart from the four horses in the shortlist this isn’t a competitive race with only the front two Binocular and Celestial Halo with decent winning claims. First Buddy and Harper Valley should be fighting it out for third spot.
Harper Valley was pulled up on his last run over hurdles and despite a good performance subsequently on the flat it is still a concern. There is also the chance that the blinkers won’t work as well as they did when winning at Cheltenham. He hasn’t shown the same form before or since so it could have been a freak performance sparked by first time blinkers. Winning a weak handicap on the all weather doesn’t properly alley those fears and although more than capable the Gordon Elliot 4yo is passed over.
First Buddy hails from a yard who has a 27% strike rate with all hurdlers this season and who know how to place a horse so he won’t be coming into the race without a good chance of getting competitive. He showed a lot of promise when winning his maiden at Bangor and after a blowout on the flat he could well fill the 3rd spot behind Binocular and Celestial Halo.
Most people will be in two camps in this race and it all depends on whether they rate the Triumph Hurdle form better or worse than Binocular’ runner-up effort in the Supreme Novice’ Hurdle. Although I was impressed by Celestial Halo when he won the Triumph I was more impressed by Binocular who traveled extremely well before being outstayed by Captain Cee Bee. The Supreme Novice’ Hurdle was the most competitive novice race at the festival and at least 12 horses had serious chances going into the race. However against the older horses Binocular performed with credit. If the ground had been faster he may have even won but that is open to interpretation. Celestial Halo realistically only had to beat Franchoek in the Triumph Hurdle and although he only really has to beat Binocular the Henderson horse has for me the more impressive form.

2pt WIN – BINOCULAR @ 7/4

RESULT

BINOCULAR 1st = +3.5pts