17th-Dec-2011

I am giving Safran De Cotte another chance here, I think that he is over-priced at 12/1.

Henry Daly’s horse did well to finish third behind Poungach and Cantlow when we had him on side on his most recent run at Sandown two weeks ago. He made a fairly bad mistake at the first flight down the back straight, after which it would have been understandable had he downed tools and called it a day, but he battled back into the race tenaciously, and did well to get past Warne’s Way to finish third.

There is no telling how good the winner of that race Poungach could be – the handicapper raised him 18lb for that, and that may still not be enough – and Cantlow is a classy performer who was competing over what is probably his optimum trip, so Safran De Cotte did well to chase them home, albeit in receipt of plenty of weight. Interestingly, the handicapper actually dropped him 1lb for that run, which is an unexpected bonus.

The drop down in trip from two miles and six furlongs to two miles and four is not necessarily a positive, but the softer ground is. They are calling it heavy at Haydock, it still has to pass an inspection, so an ability to stay further than the advertised distance in all races here today is an asset. Also, Safran De Cotte won a bumper on heavy ground on his only visit to Haydock.

He is only five, he has raced just six times over hurdles in his life and just eight times in total, so he is entitled to progress further. Henry Daly’s horses are in good form, in better form than they were in when Safran De Cotte ran at Sandown, and he just sneaks into the handicap on 10st 1lb, with Jake Greenall taking off a further 5lb.

SAFRAN DE COTTE WON (ADV 12/1, SP 13/2)