FACT IS SURE TO WIN ... IF HE'S IN

Ben Morgan shares his Christmas crackers

- 

Lud’or - It was hard not to be impressed with the manner of Lud’or's victory at Bangor On Dee on his seasonal reappearance. Having bumped into a few smart novices last term, he always threatened to be well handicapped returning this season with another Summer on his back but he proved to be thrown in off a mark of 123 as he powered away from what I thought was a decent field at the time. As I write this he is pencilled in to run under a penalty after a 13lb hike in the handicap so it will be interesting to see the result of that but whatever happens in the short term he strikes me as a horse who could continue that progression through Winter given his preference for a softer surface.

Frontier Prince - An experienced 4 year old whose connections have wasted no time progressing through bumpers, novice hurdles and now handicap hurdles. A smart bumper performer last season, he returned this season with a cosy success at Chepstow where he beat a good field of progressive horses. His experience probably won him the day there but I thought he still did it nicely whereas the handicapper took a slightly different view to me as he only allocated him an opening mark of 118. On decent ground I'm sure this lad will prove to be a lot better than that mark but the soft ground and a poor jump at the last just caught him out at Cheltenham last time. If we get another dry spell through December I can see him cashing in on a low mark in quite some fashion.