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Bunfight For The Ride On Ok Corral

Racing Ahead

December 2019

Paul Ferguson is forecasting a big month for the green and gold silks

The Ebor Handicap is the centre piece of York’s four day August meeting and is invariably one of the toughest races of the year for punters to solve.

Leading owner JP McManus looks to be the man to follow on the final Saturday in November as he could well be in for a big race across-the-card double at Newbury and Newcastle.

First, the lightly-raced Ok Corral (highlighted last month when twice the price) is fancied to land the Ladbrokes Trophy, for Nicky Henderson. Despite being nine, we have actually only seen the son of Mahler ten times on a racecourse, but he was impressive in winning his first two chase starts this term, which resulted in him being sent off at 4-1 for the National Hunt Chase.

He never really got involved that day and was badly hampered by the fatal fall of the favourite Ballyward with a circuit to run, and he remains open to plenty of improvement as a chaser. The drop back in trip is in his favour and it should be remembered that he finished runner-up in the 2018 Albert Bartlett, one place ahead of stablemate Santini.

Runner-up on his sole start at Newbury, he looks the right type for the ‘Hennessy’ and a big run looks on the cards. With Barry Geraghty likely to be up at Newcastle, it will be interesting to see who is booked for Ok Corral, remembering that amateur Derek O’Connor partnered him twice last term. Aidan Coleman won on him at Kempton in May 2017 and I’m sure there won’t be a shortage of jockeys willing to take the ride.

I am assuming that Geraghty will head north in order to ride Buveur D’Air in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, where he is sure to take the world of beating. A winner of the race in each of the past two seasons, the eightyear-old signed off for last season with an impressive victory at Punchestown, and he remains very much the 2m hurdler to beat in England.