Today's Racing - 25th November

After seeing not just one, but potentially two, top novice chasers in Grands Crus and Sonofvic yesterday at Newbury, today we get to see if Cue Card can make it 2-3 over fences in the Fuller’s London Pride Novice Chase. Our reckoning is that he might well struggle to give 7lbs and a beating to Bobs Worth, but there are other attractions on a strong card.

One of the lesser known delights of the jumps season is the never ending list of Pertemps qualifiers at good meetings and tracks and today’s event at Newbury (2.45) is typical of many – a good mix of horses who all have pretentions to being a bit better than handicappers.

It’s entirely possible that Like Minded won’t be staying over hurdles should he win or even place in this, which is a distinct possibility if he can recover the best of his form from 2 years ago . It’s going on three years since he was second to Manyriverstocross in a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Sandown, form which has since been franked by the winner in useful handicap hurdles.

Like Minded’s own reappearance held more than enough promise when ninth in a competitive renewal of the Lanzarote hurdle, having found the long absence too much to overcome after taking an outside course, and a good fourth in a competitive handicap hurdle a Ascot would have appeared to see him back to his best or close to it, and with a breathing operation hopefully having helped his finishing effort over the summer and the step up to three miles should be OK for him today.

In the same race Tom George’s Sivola De Sivola is also worth backing based on the impression that he’d improve for further when running on into fifth behind Fingal Bay at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting in the 2m5f Grade 2 hurdle. The grey had hinted at decent ability when second behind Spirit Son and winning two decent events, so a mark of 122 shouldn’t be too much and the step up to 3 miles should suit him.

Graham Wylie may have lost Howard Johnson but with good horses like Prospect Wells moving to Paul Nicholls, they can still be a major force in jumps racing. The same team’s Hold Fast would seem to be a promising enough recruit, having gotten the better of once promising hurdler Bellvano (who was probably beaten thanks to his mistake at the second last) , but preference is for Aigle D’Or, 7lbs higher than when winning this impressively last year.

Never able to get competitive after being hampered in the Bryne Group plate last season, it’s fair to say that his stamina failed him in a good event at Punchestown and then the Galway Plate, so his runs in both contests were more than fair, and he holds a strong chance of winning this event for the second year running, with the presence of Hold Fast and eyecatching Ascot second Rileyev ensuring a good price at the least.

Advice

1 pt each/way Like Minded, 2.45 Newbury (11/2 Skybet)

1 pt each/way Sivola De Sivola, 2.45 Newbury (7/1 Ladbrokes)_

1 pt win Aigle D’Or, 3.15 Newbury (5/2 Ladbrokes)