ALMIZAN     (G.L. Moore)

7 year old bay gelding     (Darshaan - Bint Albaadiya)     123P7/3183-163

Given that the most common tenet of the selections is that horses tend to historically repeat what they have done several times in the past, and that they should be backed on those occasions when this is a good thing, Almizan is selected on the basis that history is as meaningless to him as a sun lounger is to an elephant seal. THis because after three wins in his first six flat runs, he went on dry spell for the next 22 and counting, and as the numbers above imply, he made a similarly sound beginning over hurdles. However, he had a chance to deviate from the original pattern because as far as Almizan is concerned, Fontwell is where it's at. The course record is 12311 and his only other run on a left handed, sharp, level track saw him seventh at Stratford. Two placed runs at Plumpton suggest that whilst the configuation at Fontwell suits him, another factor is that he is not a great traveller, as the further afield he goes, then the form starts to fade. He recently made a decent enough chase debut at Huntingdon - couple of scrappy errors but nothing too alarming - and as long as the 8 shaped chase course at his personal Stadium of Light is handled, it should be business as usual going back there. 

Chases on good/good to firm at Fontwell

BEDOUIN BLUE     (P.C. Haslam)

4 year old bay gelding     (Desert Style - Society Fair)     42-3

Sometimes you just have to give people what they want and expect, and whilst Bedouin Blue has not quite managed to do this so far, it is too soon for punters to desert him (start counting your Bedouin related puns and quips from this point). With 2 wins from 7 on the flat, both grass and sand, he is the type of horse that normally Pat Haslam would reap immediate dividends with over jumps. Although not lacking stamina on the flat, Bedouin Blue has looked a slightly short runner in his first two tries, but appearances can deceived as the step up to two and half miles for the seasonal reappearance made very little difference, perhaps it is Bedouin Blue's intent that is at fault? However, he did run a bit freely and it may have been that on top of an absence that was his dune-fall on the day. In his last race, the other three of the leading quartet point towards him being rated in the mid-90s when handicapped, but the assessor might be more interested a two length defeat by Sharp Reply, now rated 120. Once that first jumping wins comes, those who have stayed faithful will witness scenes of great jalabiyya-lation! The most contrived shall be the last.

Handicap hurdles over 2m 2f to 2m 5f on good or good to firm, rated up to 110

HERE'S JOHNNY     (V.R.A. Dartnall)

8 year old chesnut gelding     (Presenting - Treble Base)     321/193-121471

What a rather splendidly named individual Here's Johnny is, and so far he has shown all the signs of living up to the effort on course. And the pattern as to when Here's Johnny will be performing best is fairly obvious, as his record right handed is 211911. He is not actually that bad going the other way round, and even has a win at Uttoxeter to his name, but the form of the specified conditions just looks to be much stronger. More mysterious is why he was beaten so far on his hurdles debut, in a modest race at Hereford. Neither ground nor trip were wrong, it just must have been an off day, which is something to bear in mind should Here's Johnny have a repeat showing - or more like a non-showing. At the age of eight chasing must be on the cards, unless he schools disastrously, and in the last run at Perth, three miles proved no obstacle to success. All systems go?

Chases on a right handed track, over 2m 6f or more on good to soft/soft/heavy

PASS ME A DIME     (C.L. Tizzard)

8 year old bay gelding     (Past Glories - Hand Out)      0741/3311-1F424P

Normally a selection like this is based on the assumption that the handicapper is a raging monster out to persecute the horse in question, the clue being a run of wins and then a drop off in results whilst the rating is too high. But this is not at all true for Pass Me A Dime, as his last win was only November 2006 and five runs ago, yet he is already back below his last winning rating by the simple tactic of switching back to hurdles (where he was briefly campaigned in early 2005). With a defeat and a fall, he may even be back to his last winning rating over fences by now - a massive psychological step! As he is only eight, there is no reason to think that he is in decline physically, so the hope is that Pass Me A Dime can be got back on the path of the righteous and we can nickel the decent prices when it happens. Although he does not often run on them, a level track seems not to play to his strengths. Neither does any form of obstacle, as he seems to treat hurdles and fences with equal disdain, but apart from a blot at Ascot, usually gets away with it, and his rather keen style of racing means that small fields are a big help (and also explains why he goes through rather over so many off the things put in his way).

Hurdles/chases on an undulating track, not on good to firm/hard, with up to 9 runners

PRINCE VECTOR     (Mrs A.M. Thorpe)

5 year old bay gelding     (Vettori - The In-Laws)      24-4

The hurdling career of Prince Vector began in the charge of Alan King, and he contested two run of the mill novice events that probably were a little better than the average for the races' venues and values. In each case the form has worked out moderately but not disastrously, and on his debut Prince Vector did have the small excuse of picking up a bit of a knock - which might have discouraged him from the extra effort required for success. However, the fact that his original trainer saw fit to run him at Hereford and Taunton, as opposed to, say, Newbury and Sandown, suggests that the horse was expected to be no king of the jumps, at most a prince, and perhaps even as little as a baronet. His last adventures for the yard were two pitiful all-weather runs and ended in uninspiring defeat in a seller. The thought remained that the hurdling form was workable, and after six months off, Prince Vector reappeared from Alison Thorpe's yard. Not knocked about at the end, he was just done for pace at the end of a 2m 2½f race, looking as if the run may have been needed rather than ruling out an ability to go over further. As his trainer has an excellent record of enlivening horses that had become a touch jaded elsewhere, it seems likely that something better could emerge in handicaps.

Handicap hurdles on good or good to firm, rated up to 110

WOTCHALIKE     (R.J. Price)

5 year old chesnut gelding     (Spectrum - Juno Madonnna)      7/14407035-

In selecting Wotchalike, the main concern is that he may just have decided after debuting at Cheltenham and then winning his second jumps race that he has been there, done that, eaten the t-shirt. However after seeing off Shannon Springs (winner since) and Karinga Kream (very close runner-up recently), Wotchalike did post a fair effort in being ten lengths behind Buster Hyvonen (third placed Instructor has been second three times afterwards).  Unfortunately, the sole remaining good run came in a seller where he was badly in with the runner up at the weights, but should have had a stone in hand on the winner, Shropshirelass. Encouragingly, she managed to be placed in non-selling handicaps on her next two runs despite being raise eighteen pounds for the win - i.e. enough make Wotchalike seem to have performed to his mark. Wotchalike's three significant runs all came on a right-handed track, avoiding the mud and over two miles. Three tries at further (including Sandown and Ascot) can be overlooked as not his thing at all. The horse is not going to sweep all before him in a sequence of glorious victories, but the erratic numbers by his name should ensure a decent price when he gets it together, which is wotwelike!

Hurdles up to 2m 1f on good/good to firm and a right-handed track