Doncaster Jumps 23/2/2022
1:42 Doncaster
2m128y VIRGIN BET FREE BETS FOR WINNERS NOVICES' HURDLE (GBB RACE) (Class 4) (4yo+) Winner £5,446
Although the plucky Sinndar gelding Ginger Mail got a morale victory by winning his last race it was unfortunately sans jockey having left Conor O'Farrell behind 2 out. Racing on good ground he had been hustled along at times and his jumping seemed a bit scrappy before eventually parting company. He showed a good attitude by carrying on.
In the previous hurdle event at Ayr which was raced on soft ground he seemed to be pulling slightly right and he wasn’t changing his stride well before some of the jumps. The pulling to the right was more noticeable when he was on the left handed turns and Doncaster is left handed today. He was still going well coming out of the home turn, coming to two out he had every chance and was mounting a challenge but two slow jumps at the end did not help his cause and he got overtaken by a number of horses.
Brian Hughes will be reunited for the third time with the ex point-to-pointer Cartonne. He came 3rd in both his Irish point to points which were ran on good to yielding and soft to heavy respectively. The gelding in all likelihood ruined his own chances in his National Hunt flat race as he raced too freely on the good to soft ground.
He seemed to go off to quickly and tried to make all in his last race which was a class 4 maiden hurdle raced on soft ground in extremely foggy conditions. It looked like he was racing a bit freely again. It strikes me that rather than trying to make all he would do better racing prominently and coming off the pace when he makes his challenge. In truth Cartonne looked beat 3 out. It was hard to assess his jumping as it was so hard to see what was going on but there did not seem to be any major concerns.
The horse that beat Cartonne last time was trained by Dan Skelton. He will be able to use Our Jet as a good yard stick to gauge what he needs to enter here to get the job done. Ridgeway looks formidable judged on the grey geldings last run.
As a class 4 winner over 1m2f on the flat he has a fair turn of speed when required.
My only worry needs to be addressed. He has never raced on anything with more cut than good to soft. His sire is called Outstrip and was a Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf winner. Ridgeway is the only winner the sire has had hurdling from 5 individual runners. His progeny seem to prefer soft compared to good to soft which is a good sign. True redemption comes on the dam’s side of the family tree as we discover Saddex the dams sire has progeny that are good at hurdling and prefer soft ground over any other surface. The other consideration is that Dan will be well aware of the horses capabilities on soft ground and would be likely to withdraw the horse if he was unsuited to the task at hand.
Harry Skelton is in the saddle again which in my book is always a bonus. He is a skilled tactical rider who got a fine tune from the likably grey in the geldings debut hurdle race. It was Ridgeway’s first race after a wind operation and for his new stable.
Looking at that run Ridgeway jumped nicely and didn’t look at all green. Parts of the track looked to be softer than the official description of good and he lifted his legs up well with a reasonably high knee action. He doesn’t look to be a daisy cutter.
He was fast between hurdles and travelled well chasing down the leaders and mounting a challenge just before three out whilst not being asked any questions on a short reign. I noticed before two out he might benefit from blinkers, but also that he jumps well under crowded conditions. As they landed with one to go he was the only horse in the race not being asked a question by his rider. Harry was motionless. Ridgeway was looking like a different class and was cruising jumping the last. Harry got him going as the pressure mounted from behind and the gelding took off. He shrugged off his rivals easily and I don’t see a penalty holding him back in his current mood. He is entitled to progress from that run and looks the likely winner if he gets the ground.
Selection: Ridgeway 2/1 Bet365 Bog