'It's a competitive race but I think she'll be hard to beat' - mare fancied for Ludlow feature chase

Roger Pol, winner of one of his two starts over fences, looks open to considerable improvement now he steps up in trip.

Jamie Snowden’s runner is only 5lb higher than when beating Next Left by two and a quarter lengths on his chasing debut at Southwell over 2m4½f in October.

Next Left had won two of his five previous starts for Dan Skelton and it looked a solid piece of form at the time.

A slightly shorter trip on good ground didn’t play to Roger Pol’s strengths at Doncaster subsequently, but he still shaped with a deal of promise in staying on to finish third to Classic King.

It would be no surprise if the seven-year-old produced a career-best performance over the longest distance he has yet to tackle.

Some might argue Smiling Getaway holds a class edge over these rivals after her run in a Listed mares’ novice chase at Warwick last month.

Although a well-beaten fifth behind Cherie d’Am, she faces nothing of that calibre and looks sure to run a big race. The step up in distance looks in her favour too.

Ramo, a course winner over hurdles, makes his debut over fences for a stable which does really well at Ludlow.

Don’t be totally put off by Fever Dream’s recent efforts. Although the bare form figures suggest he hasn’t taken well to chasing, the manner of his Perth hurdles win last June remains fresh in the memory.

He appealed strongly as the type to develop into a better chaser than hurdler in due course, and it’s far too soon to write him off.
Analysis by Richard Birch

Going update

The ground was described officially as soft, good to soft in places (GoingStick 6.0) overnight. There was snow on the track on Sunday morning, but that was expected to melt as temperatures rose during the day and any frozen patches thawed out. There is a raceday inspection at 7am.

What they say

Charlie Deutsch, rider of Ramo
He's a nice horse and I'm really looking forward to him chasing. You never know until they try it but I see no reason why he shouldn't take to fences.

Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant trainer of Smiling Getaway
Fences have made all the difference to her. She jumps very well and stays very well, and we're looking forward to running her. It's a competitive race but I think she'll be hard to beat. 

Jamie Snowden, trainer of Roger Pol
He had a completely wasted trip up to Musselburgh last week but he's a straightforward character and he's okay after that. He wants this step up in trip and he'll handle the track, so he has a lot in his favour. But there are no 0-130 novice handicaps in the south, so he is forced into an open handicap, when he is perhaps not quite ready.

Philip Hobbs, joint-trainer of Masters Legacy
I wouldn't want the ground to go very soft but he's in good form and he'd have run well on his last visit to Ludlow if he hadn't fallen. There was no reason for his disappointing run at Exeter last time.

Evan Williams, trainer of Balkardy
He's a pleasure, one of those genuine little horses who runs his race nine times out of ten and, if he does that again, I hope he'll be in the prize-money.
Reporting by David Carr

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