THIEF READY TO STEAL IN

Jeremy Grayson has been keeping eyes focused on the country track action

- 

FONTWELL, November 16 (Good to soft, soft in places) 2m5f135yds 0-100 Handicap Chase (class 5)

TED THE THIEF has no pretensions as a hurdler judged on three qualifying efforts, but it’s enabled him to start out life in chases on the sort of basement mark that'll keep him in class 5s even after a few wins. Beaten just over 2l in fourth and as strong as any in the finish at the end of this extended 2m5f, having got outpaced on the turn for home, he'll appreciate even slower ground and nearer to 3m, as originally suggested by his maiden point win for Josh Newman and Kayley Woollacott over the challenging Chipley Park line back in February. A grandson of a half-sister to Cooldine (RSA Chase), and great-grandson of a sister to Bracken-enfield and Brackenheath, one would hope there's the potential for Robert Walford's son of Soldier Of Fortune to make a staying chaser based on that admittedly generations-old evidence, if not just that.

EXETER, November 17 (Good to soft, good in places) 2m161yds (+5yds) Novices' Hurdle (class 4)