Middleham trainer Mark Johnston holds a very strong hand in the Landwades Stud Nell Gwyn…
3.35 Worcester, Monday, September 18
The Sparkling Anja Potze Fine Jewellery Handicap Chase (3.35) at Worcester on Monday is a decent enough contest for this time of year and may present an opportunity for Jamie Snowden’s progressive young chaser Adrrastos to make it 3-3 over the larger obstacles.
A consistent, if unspectacular, hurdler, the son of high-class German sprinter Areion won unchallenged on his chasing debut, over course and distance, in July. He subsequently took advantage of the early departure of favourite Going for Broke when making all to win by 10 lengths in a better novices’ handicap chase at Stratford last month and, although that form is slightly questionable, he is clearly going the right way.
Adrrastos is another 7lb higher in a better race again here, but he’s still only a 5-year-old and, having shown his best form on good, or faster, ground on sharp, flat tracks, he should be in his element around the easy, left-handed turns of Worcester. Winning jockey Aidan Coleman is replaced by Gavin Sheehan, but the Cork jockey has a 2-5 (40%) strike rate on chasers for the yard this season, so the statistics augur well for the chances of Adrrastos in his bid for a hat-trick.
Selection: Worcester 3.35 Adrrastos to win – 5/2