Saturday 4th January 2020

Author: Jordan Yates

Image: Jordan Yates

The Tolworth Hurdle is the feature event this Saturday which takes place at Sandown Park and it’s a Grade 1 Hurdle that’s ridden over a distance of two miles. The race has been won by some top-class hurdlers in recent years who have gone on to win at the Cheltenham Festival, most recently being the likes of Yorkhill and Summerville Boy.

This year’s renewal of the race is headed by the Colin Tizzard trained Fiddlerontheroof who’s set to be ridden by Robbie Power. He started his campaign with two placed efforts in Graded company behind smart sorts such as Edwardstone and Thyme Hill before getting his head in front in Novice company the last day at Sandown, when winning in assertive style by the best part of seven lengths. He consequently finds himself as the general 9/4 favourite here as a result of that performance.

Just behind the Tizzard six-year-old in the betting are two potentially top-level hurdlers and the first of these comes in the form of Nicky Henderson’s Son Of Camas, who’s currently trading at around the 5/2 mark and is the mount of Nico de Boinville. He’s won both of his starts this term, the first coming in a bumper then the follow up in a hot maiden hurdle at Newbury. Alongside him in the market is Emma Lavelle’s Hang In There who will be ridden by Aidan Coleman, he also arrives here in red hot form having won his last two outings after unseating on his reappearance run. The latter of his wins came in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham where he got the better of the smart Pacify by three lengths.

The remainder of the line-up is headed by Evan Williams’ Silver Hallmark who has just had the one outing this term which was a winning one. That came in a maiden hurdle at Chepstow in November and he can be found at around 10/1 to follow up here under Adam Wedge. Gavin Cromwell’s Jeremeys Flame and Paul Nicholls’ Calva D’Auge are both set to take their place here and we’re both last seen finishing second in Listed company at Newbury and Haydock respectively. Concluding the field is Logan Rock who’s the outsider for Amy Murphy at 66/1.

Race Verdict:

Fiddlerontheroof looks to set a solid standard here and looks to be a typically progressive sort for the Tizzard yard. He’s the one to beat and I’d be surprised if he wasn’t bang there at the business end of things. I’ve taken him on though and I’ve done that with Nicky Henderson’s SON OF CAMAS. The maiden he won at Newbury when last seen could prove to be one of the hottest of the season, the horse in second that day King Roland was one of my main horses to follow for this term and absolutely bolted up on his next outing. Obviously, this requires significant improvement despite the strength of the form but I think this could well be another smart prospect for Seven Barrows. The market probably has it right here as it looks to be between the top three in the betting as Hang In There should also play a significant part if turning up in the same form as his Graded success last time at Cheltenham.

SON OF CAMAS (5/2)