There is overnight rain forecast for Thursday's card at Ludlow and the ground may well ride slower than the official description of good to soft on Wednesday afternoon.
The card opens with a Novices' Hurdle and AP McCoy takes the mount on the likely favourite Slowfoot (2.30) who is likely to cope with underfoot conditions better than Her Majesty the Queen's Jack Frost who lost his unbeaten record when tailed off on soft ground at Newbury back in December.
Jack Frost had previously won a Bumper and a maiden hurdle at today's Shropshire track and the Henderson yard are in rude health but those successes were gained on decent ground whereas the selection, useful on the flat in his native Germany, won his maiden hurdle on heavy ground at Plumpton back in February.
The valuable 3m Handicap Chase is a competitive heat and if the rain failed to materialise then Brassick would have every chance despite coming back from a long absence. He would prefer decent ground, however, and a chance is take on the winning point-to-pointer A Good Skin (3.00) who has finished runner up in both starts since turning his attentions to the larger obstacles and copes well enough with soft ground.
Broxbourne (3.30) lost a shoe when finishing in midfield in a better race than she encounters today when she put to bed the possibility that she doesn't act in soft ground. A decent stayer on the flat for Mark Johnston she would be giving weight to the other principles if this were a handicap and Maybe Plenty hasn't quite progressed as looked the case when winning at Warwick back in November.
It's A Steel (4.00) may not have got home over 3m here last time and the drop back in distance looks ideal for today's feature event. The selection is a stone higher than when scoring over C&D back in December but he will not be inconvenienced if the rains arrive and looks to have been targeted at this valuable prize.
Vaihau (5.30) has been a big disappointment since making the switch from France but his runs this term came at a time when the Jonjo O'Neill yard weren't exactly firing and the market support (beaten at 1/6 back in October) suggests connections think he has a fair amount of ability.
Keshi Pearl is another dual winning Bumper who has lost her way so far over hurdles but trainer Henry Daly is a standing dish at Ludlow and his yard are in very good form at present; a market move would be worth noting.
Port Melon ran into one at Kempton last time and can break his maiden in the opener at Taunton and the Nicholls yard can follow up in the handicap hurdle with recent Newbury scorer Earthmoves (3.50) who appreciated the better ground at the Berkshire track last time. He must carry a 7lb penalty in this tougher race but he is open to further improvement and is taken to follow up.
Follow The Tracks jumped superbly when making all over C&D last month but he has been raised 13lbs for that effort and Midnight Sequel (4.50) is an interesting runner from the Neil Mullholland stable stepping up in trip to 3m for the first time. The selection was beaten at odds on the level in Jersey back in September and her conditional jockey rode an excellent race aboard Kim Bailey's Net Work Rouge at Newbury last month.
Nap – It's A Steel (Ludlow 4.00)
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