'I doubt anything will be finishing off better' - Tom Segal bids to follow Saturday's 13-2 winner with two Sunday selections

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Christopher Wood
1.35 Carlisle
1pt win

Schalke
2.10 Carlisle
1pt win

There is plenty of competitive racing in Britain and Ireland but not much of it is of any great quality and to be perfectly honest there are not many horses running that are, or ever will be, on my radar.

However, I always have an affinity with Carlisle, where trainers often chose to run their best horses, and there are a couple of interesting races at the Cumbria venue, most notably the Pertemps Qualifier (2.10).

By far the most interesting runner is the topweight Prairie Dancer, who Joseph O'Brien brings over from Ireland. He was good enough on the Flat to win the Naas November Handicap off a mark of 84. The big question is whether he will stay this trip at this track and I think connections will be quite happy if he finishes in the first at four and books his place for the final in March.

Those of an older vintage, like me, will only have eyes for Howlingmadmurdock and will be wondering whether B.A Baracus, Hannibal and Faceman will be in attendance in the black van as well. One thing's for sure they are unlikely to have arrived by plane! The equine Howlingmadmurdock was a high-class novice hurdler and ended up finishing fifth in a Grade 1 at Aintree, one place behind none other than Stay Away Fay.

Basically all his form last year has worked out well and he shaped with a good deal of promise in the valuable staying handicap at Haydock on his return. The excellent Cameron Iles has a great record for Tom Lacey and takes a valuable 7lb off, so he could easily win this. However, there was nothing much between him and Schalke last time and, at the prices, I just wonder whether this stiff test of stamina will suit the latter better.

Schalke always takes a few runs to find his feet but what he will do is finish off strongly, as he was always on the back foot at the much tighter Haydock. He was only beaten by 12 lengths, and provided there is a decent pace to run at, I doubt anything will be finishing off the race better than Schalke. Furthermore, Rebecca Menzies has put the cheekpieces back on, which didn't really have much effect as a younger horse, but they will hopefully make him travel a bit sweeter this time.  

Venetia Williams is in amazing form and, as you would expect at a track that suits strong staying chasers, she has an excellent record at Carlisle. She runs Ramo in the Pertemps qualifier, but he has to bounce back after a moderate effort at Newbury last time.

Consequently, I think her best chance of a winner might well be Christopher Wood, who is probably more likely to have been named after the 20th century painter rather than the lumbering Nottingham Forest centre forward.

Christopher Wood is extremely well handicapped in the 2m5f handicap chase (1.35) on his best hurdles form, having finished sixth in the 2022 Coral Cup off a mark of 143. He races off 130 here and as a novice chaser he was second to Saint Segal over 2m. The winner that day is a top class handicapper over 2m and to get so close given Christopher Wood is surely going to be a lot better over today's trip was a good effort.

He finished behind today's rival Dubai Days at Ayr on his last run over fences, but he's had a wind operation since and this trip and track should suit him an awful lot better.

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