Wolf Moon

Wolf Moon impressed in landing a three-mile beginners’ chase at Catterick on Monday, and he is interesting again now. Always racing handily and towards the inside, he took it up at the sixth last fence, came clear over the third last, and had the race well in the bag when he made a mistake at the last fence, easing down to beat Pennek by an easy three lengths. A really progressive staying handicap hurdler last season, it was reasonable to expect that Martin Keighley’s gelding would have been a player among the top staying novice chasers this term, but he had been out of sorts. He apparently has been treated for stomach ulcers, and Keighley’s entire yard has been struggling for form all season. Actually, Wolf Moon was only the trainer’s second runner after he had closed the stable down because his horses were out of sorts. As such, Wolf Moon could be really well handicapped now. He is entered in five races at Cheltenham, but it may be that the Kim Muir is the race for him. He won twice from three tried over hurdles at Cheltenham last year, and he was travelling well in the race in which he was beaten (a race that was won by RSA Chase favourite Time For Rupert) when he made a race-ending mistake at the second last. He will get a penalty for this, but his chase rating of 116 is 9lb lower than his hurdles rating, and he probably needed a penalty to get him into the Kim Muir. He is only eight, he has raced just five times over fences, he has huge scope for progression, and he could be one of the best-handicapped horses in the race if he does line up in the Kim Muir. Best price of 40/1 about him is generous.

28th February 2011

© The Irish Field, 5th March 2011