This content originally appeared in Racing & Football Outlook, available weekly in all newsstands every Tuesday.
Gavin Cromwell has won the title twice in recent years and he has a great chance to hit it again with White pepper. She’s only won one of 14 Flat races but was lucky for the second time in this orb at Galway last month, getting ahead in the early stages and setting a pace none of her competitors could match. . That form sets a clear standard in the field.
Third Time Lucki has looked the pick of the 2m novice chasers so far this winter and he can confirm that impression here. He came up short when sights were raised at the end of his hurdles campaign but the gelding has thrived since switching to the larger obstacles and was always holding off Sebastopol when completing a double at Cheltenham last time out.
Chacun Pour Soi disappointed on his last visit to these shores, only managing third in the Champion Chase, but he was otherwise invincible last season when he won a Grade 2 by 19l on his comeback before taking three Grade 1s.
He produced a flawless round of jumping when dominating Punchestown’s Champion Chase in April and a repeat performance at a track that should suit his style will make him very hard to beat.
Lucinda Russell’s string are in great shape and she has every chance of landing this big price with Might Thunder. Last season’s Scottish Grand National winner found the 3m Charlie Hall Chase an insufficient test at Wetherby last time out but he progressed steadily over fences last winter and remains capable of better in just his eighth chase start.
This marathon looks wide open but Red Infantry is one I can see going well at an each-way price. He hasn’t been the most consistent since returning from a spell on the sidelines but he showed the ability remains with a Doncaster win in March and wasn’t disgraced at Warwick two weeks ago, racing up with the pace until getting tired in the closing stages.
Pounding Poet had to settle for second over this course and distance last time out but he can go one better. Tom Lacey’s gelding won both handicaps before a summer break and was far from disgraced on his comeback, as only Mackleduff proved too strong in a race run at an unsuitably slow tempo.
Hudson De Grugy can enhance an already impressive course record in the Listed handicap hurdle. He was runner-up on his stable debut over course and distance last December but has won all three subsequent visits, most recently four weeks ago when he saw off Will Sting despite a tardy jump at the final flight. There is more to come if he can brush up his jumping.
If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.
