Pipe bandwagon set to roll on at Donny
February 22nd, 2012 by Steve HughesDavid Pipe has trained winners on four consecutive days now and could continue his fine recent run in the feature chase on the card at Doncaster. A horse on a fine run until a poor effort last time is taken to bounce back at Ludlow.
Doncaster 3.30 FAASEL (6/1)
The evergreen Faasel has been racing successfully almost non-stop since 2003, when winning twice as a 2yo with Kevin Prendergast, and whilst he is a pretty tricky ride these days, he looks an ideal type to take on fellow veterans at Doncaster.
Although he has won on all types of ground, he seems to prefer quicker conditions these days and that may have been a reason for his poor seasonal debut at Warwick where he was never able to get competitive on softish ground.
Ridden with restraint that day, he is also probably more effective when ridden up with the pace, and as a proven stayer (he was second in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown over 3m5f in April), it would make sense for Tom Scudamore to ride him handy here, which seems to spark his enthusiasm.
He runs well fresh, so the fact this will be only his second appearance of the season is not a worry, and this will be his first try in a veterans only race, which he should find somewhat easier than his usual opposition, given all the horses here are full exposed. He can race off the same mark than when a clear second to stablemate Junior at last season’s Cheltenham Festival
Ludlow 3.40 MAURITINO (13/2)
A real top of the ground performer, Mauritino has a superb record on ground good or firmer over hurdles – 0101111 being his finishing positions. He will get his ground again today, provided the rain stays away, and has the presence of top conditional Maurice Linehan to take off a valuable 7lbs.
Linehan partnered the gelding at Kempton last time out, but it was probably not one of his better days as he allowed Mauritino to force a suicidal early pace that he had no chance of maintaining for the full 2m5f.
He is better judged on his wins in successive days in October at this track and at Exeter. Although those races were at distances beyond 2m, he had won two hurdles in the spring over the minimum trip and even managed to win a decent flat race at Newbury over 10f, so he does not lack for pace. Therefore this return to 2m should be within his scope.
He has had a couple of months to recover from his last run, and until that last race, he had won four times running on right-handed tracks, so we know Ludlow suits him ideally.
Tags: Doncaster Tips, Ray Flanagan
Categories: Horse racing
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