Monday 26th December 2022

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Author: Jordan Yates (EvRacing_)

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Welcome aboard to my Boxing Day Blog where I’ll be sharing with you my selections for what is a feast of Christmas action. My first fancy of the day comes from the Kempton and it’s the 12:10 which is a novice’s hurdle which is contested over two miles. I’ve taken a chance on Father Of Jazz here who’s currently trading at a best price of 9/2 for the Skelton’s. He was a useful performer on the flat and was rated as high as 104, since switching to obstacles he’s had one outing for his new yard, when finishing second of sixteen at Huntingdon earlier in the month. I think that there’s a high possibility that he’ll build on that effort here, and if that’s the case he’s got a solid chance of going well. The ground would be a slight worry, but he hasn’t actually been tested on soft going yet, so there’s every chance he’ll act on it.

My next pick comes from Leopardstown and their 1:10 which is a Grade 2 Juvenile Hurdle that’s also set to be ridden over a distance of two miles. This is actually my NAP of the day, and it comes in the form of Lossiemouth who’s currently a 10/11 chance of the dominant due of Paul Townend and Willie Mullins. She sports the famous pink & green silks of the Ricci’s and opened her account for the stable in imposing style last time out, bolting up in a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse when lowering the colours of smart stablemate Zarak The Brave. As a result of that success last time, she’s catapulted to the top of the betting for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and if she turns up here in the same kind of form she’s very hard to oppose. (NAP)

It’s over to Wetherby now for my third punt of the day, this comes in the 1:35 which is a Premier Handicap Chase over three miles. This is an extremely competitive contest, however, I really like the chances of Shan Blue who’s currently a 9/4 chance for Sean Quinlan and Dan Skelton. He’s been off the track since finishing second of fourteen behind Sam Brown in a Grade 3 Handicap Chase at Aintree back in April. He’ll contest this contest of a mark of 148, which I think is well within his compass, last year he was cruising in the Charlie Hall Chase around this track before taking a pretty heavy fall and he’s also a Grade 1 winner, having won the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on boxing day two years ago and has since been placed in top-level company also. If ready to go on his first outing of the campaign in this assignment a bold showing would be no real surprise.

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My final selection of the day is back at Kempton in the 3:05 which is a novice handicap chase over two miles and four and a half furlongs. This is another extremely competitive affair, however, I’ve sided with Balco Coastal at 9/2 for Nico de Boinville and Nicky Henderson. He arrives here having posted a pretty underwhelming run on his chasing debut, where he finished fifth of six at Newbury last month when going off as the 13/8 favourite. It is likely though that he needed the run that day to blow the cobwebs off, and he’s a horse that has always been well thought of and had quite a bit of potential. He burst onto the scene a couple of years ago with a dominant display in a bumper at this track, and has been pretty lightly raced since. His most notable effort probably came when finishing third of twenty-one in a Grade 3 Handicap at Aintree on his final outing of last season, if reproducing that effort here and building on his seasonal reappearance, I think he’s got a very solid chance to go well in this.