Soccer

Fontwell Expert Eye: Course stats and tips for Sunday's meeting

Fontwell's Sunday card, which features the National Spirit Hurdle, comes under the scrutiny of Planer Sport experts with three outright picks advised.

Those three picks are listed below, with the reasons why further down the page along with some useful course stats, while you might also want to check out the Planet Sport Live Centre, which houses the Fontwell race card.

Selections:

Brewin'upastorm (14.50) Fontwell)

Getaweapon (15.20 Fontwell)

Mount South (16.50 Fontwell)

Course characteristics

Left-handed hurdle course. Figure-of-eight chase course which does not suit long-striding gallopers. Ground can be testing. Circuit 1m.

Top trainers with runners

This is Gary Moore's local track and he's regularly amongst the winners, with 70 of his 371 runners (19%) over the past five seasons ending up in the winners' enclosure. He's 12-64 in the current season.
He has seven entries this afternoon: Nassalam, who looks to have a penalty kick in the opening novices' limted handicap chase (13.50), Guguss Collonges, who is a worthy favourite for the 2m5f handicap chase (14.20), Botox Has (14.50), Make My Day and Jerrash, who take each other on in the novices' hurdle (15.20), Legal Rights (15.50) and French Bumper in the closing bumper (16.50).

Top jockeys with rides

Unsurprisngly, Jamie Moore, who rides the majority of his father's horses, is leading the way with his 44 winners coming at a fair strike rate of 19% (229 rides).

He will get the leg up on Nassalam, Guguss Collonges, Jerrash, Martin Spirit (15.50) and Boro Lass (16.50).

His brother Josh can boast a very respectable 16 winners from 167 rides (16%), and backing both brothers blind here would have resulted in profits of £23.92 and £12.10 respectively to £1 level-stakes.

14.50 Fontwell - Brewin'upastorm

The day's feature has attracted a small but select field of six headed by last year's winner Brewin'upastorm, who is bidding to become just the third back-to-back winner of the National Spirit Hurdle, a feat last achieved Lough Derg in 2007 and 2008.
He was an impressive five-and-a-half-length winner of this Grade 2 12 months ago and he's looked better than ever in three runs this season, winning twice in easy fashion and looking desperately unlucky not to score at Cheltenham on New Year's Day, so well was he travelling upsides the winner when coming down at the last flight.
His main target is the Aintree Hurdle - he has no Cheltenham entries, which is unsurprising given he's had no luck there - and victory this afternoon would set him nicely for a crack at that Grade 1, in which he finished fifth last year when not the horse he is now.
The betting suggests he has most to fear from Irish raider Darver Star, whom he beat a little over a length at Lingfield last time out on the same terms as today, and Grade 1 winner Monmiral, who has not been seen out since finishing a disappointing fifth in November's Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
Allmankind has to be respected too on his return to hurdles after a break, but Brewin'upastorm arrives here at the peak of his powers, has valuable course form in the book, and has been pleasing his trainer Olly Murphy at home.
"He's unlucky not to be unbeaten this season," Murphy said earlier this week. "We've found his trip and got his confidence back. Fontwell will suit him again and we're really looking forward to running him," he added.

15.20 Fontwell - Getaweapon

The biggest field of the day for this 2m6f handicap hurdle, with 11 set to go to post, and the betting has an open look to it too, with bookies going 5/1 the field.
Clearly plenty can be given a chance but we've settled on Kim Bailey's Getaweapon, who is the trainer's only representative this afternoon, and is the mount of David Bass, who's here for one ride.
But the seven-year-old mare has far more to recommend her and not least some a solid bank of recent form, having twice finished runner-up since returning from wind surgery in early January.
The latest of those came at odds-on, admittedly, but she was running just four days after keeping on for second in a better contest at Exeter and those exertions may have taken their toll.
Having been given a nice break since and dropped 2lb by the handicapper, she's fancied to give her bang-in-form trainer (5-20 in the last fortnight) another winner.

16.50 Fontwell - Mount South

Harry Skelton, who is here to ride his brother's Allmankind in the day's feature, has picked up an interesting spare ride for Ian Williams in the closing bumper and it could be a winning one.

He will get the leg up on Mount South who is making his British / stable debut having changed hands for £52,000 after finishing an eye-catching third in a Navan bumper in December.

While he was a good seven lengths behind impressive winner Itswhatunitesus, who has an entry in next month's Champion Bumper, he shaped with real promise, impressing with the way he travelled through the race and then keeping on nicely at the finish.
As a half-brother to Swansea Mile, a useful 2m-2m1f hurdle winner who also won a Grade 1 chase in the United States, he's bred to do well at this game and is worth backing to give his new connections a quick return on their investment.

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