Half of the past 10 Betfair Hurdle winners have been priced at 16/1 or bigger - our expert picks out three early outsiders to consider for the Newbury contest next month.
Bought from France where he was a Listed winner on very soft ground, L’Eau Du Sud looks to have been gaining some vital experience in his first couple of starts for Dan Skelton in Britain.
He seemed badly in need of the outing first time out, following 230 days off the track, at Haydock in November but stepped forward from that when a good third – well clear of the remainder – behind No Ordinary Joe in a quality Kempton contest over Christmas (replay below).
The five-year-old is bound to be strengthening up all the time and, still rated in the low-130s, he could sneak into this with a lovely weight, for the team who have already snared a huge Newbury prize this season courtesy of Le Milos in the Coral Gold Cup.
Master Chewy (Nigel Twiston-Davies) – 20/1
Nigel Twiston-Davies has won the Betfair Hurdle three times in the past nine years and he came very close to adding to that tally when I Like To Move It filled the runner-up spot last season.
That one is owned by the Shepperd family and they’ve got another fascinating novice in line for the race this time around.
In fact, Master Chewy is Twiston-Davies’ only entry so the current 20/1 looks potentially quite generous at this stage as the horse seems likely to improve a great deal once pitched into a big-field handicap.
He was beaten at short odds at Plumpton last time but he needed that fourth hurdles start to qualify for Newbury (change in the rules from previous years for Class 1 and Class 2 handicaps) so I wouldn’t be reading too much into the bare form as he’d shaped very well when finding only Attacca too good at Cheltenham’s International meeting prior to that.
The son of Walk In The Park has yet to win a race of any description but looks very fairly treated and will handle proper February ground too.
It’s been a superb season for Ben Pauling so far and having won a two-mile Newbury handicap with Fine Casting last January, it’s no surprise to see the trainer lining the horse up for a possible crack at this massive pot.
The seven-year-old has looked really progressive over hurdles for a couple of seasons now and got back on the winning trail when fairly bolting up at Haydock late last month.
All three runs so far this season have been over further but he had it sewn up a long way from the finish last time and a very strongly-run two miles at Newbury could suit him down to the ground.
He also won a heavy-ground bumper at the Berkshire track in 2021 so he clearly loves the place and further improvement this year is far from out of the question.
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