C’monthehammers

C’monthehammers put up a taking display in winning the four-mile Devon Marathon at Exeter on Sunday on just his fourth start over fences, to record his first win over the larger obstacles. Settled in midfield towards the inside, he was understandably slightly novicey at some of his fences. He had to be driven for a stride or two after the first couple of fences on the final circuit but soon came back on the bridle and made smooth progress down the back straight for the final time to move into second place. Travelling best into the straight, a good jump at the fourth last took him into the lead, and, despite edging left into the second placed horse, not jumping the last three with much fluency and racing quite lazily, he gave the impression coming to the last that there was more in the tank. He had his ears pricked all the way up the straight and he was able to pull out a couple of lengths on Kitley Hassle when his rider David England got serious with him before the last before staying on well to win in a good time.

Although the son of Snurge is a fairly small horse, there could be a fair bit more to come over these extreme distances. He seemed to relish the four miles here and he would be a Welsh National horse if he got into the race. While he probably won’t get into the Chepstow contest over Christmas given that he was racing here off a mark of a mere 117, he could be a horse for some of those other long distance staying chases in which his trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies does well, like the Blue Square Chase at Haydock or the Eider Chase at Newcastle.

He shows quite a round knee action, normally suggestive of a preference for cut in the ground, but was winning here on officially good to soft ground and his two hurdle wins came on a good surface. They were both over three miles plus though, and it may well be that the extended distances negated the need for softer ground. If he is dropped back to three miles it may well be that he will need softer conditions to show his form, although he did travel well here. He is a progressive horse, he is only seven and has raced just four times over fences, and there could be a fair bit more to come.

5th December 2010