Now Isaac Des Obeaux has a win over fences on his CV, he can swiftly double up in the Download The Oddschecker App Somerset National Handicap Chase at Wincanton, writes Anita Chambers, Press Association.
The eight-year-old mixed it with some classy types over hurdles, beating Haiti Couleurs on one occasion and finishing third to Gidleigh Park in Grade Two company on another, but he was short of that calibre and subsequently had his attentions switched to fences last season.
Isaac Des Obeaux was far from an instant success in that sphere either, ending his first campaign without a win in four starts but a wind operation last summer seemingly had the desired effect as after a warm-up run, he opened his account by five lengths at Exeter last month.
That win came over three miles and while he tackles a further quarter of a mile here, Isaac Des Obeaux was certainly not stopping under top weight and he appeals as a relatively unexposed runner at this kind of staying trip.
Ip Up has slightly paid for her consistent profile but is still the pick in the Join “Windsor Blue” Race Club Mares’ Handicap Hurdle at Ludlow.
Despite not having won since January 2024 when racing off a mark of 115, Ip Up has remained in the vicinity of that kind of rating ever since, climbing as high as 121 at one point and now lining up off 113 after placing in three of her last five starts.
She was beaten six lengths on her most recent run by a mare that had triumphed in three of her four previous starts, so Ip Up clearly had a task on her hands against such an in-form rival.
Perhaps that is why the handicapper has not relented at all, but proven to handle different kinds of ground, Ip Up is due a slice of luck eventually.
Court At Slip looks back on a workable mark in Newcastle’s Free Race Replays On attheraces.com Handicap Chase.
He ran well off 100 on his penultimate start, beaten two lengths in a three-mile-two-furlong race at Carlisle in November, before being inched back up 2lb to finish a 20-length third last time out.
His jumping let him down that day and Court At Slip dropped away, but off his lower mark he can go close again.
Time Tested can bring up his hat-trick in the 10-furlong CCR Handicap at Chelmsford.
He has a fine overall all-weather record, with five wins and two places in nine starts, but has been in particularly fine form of late, supplementing an October win at the Essex venue with another course success in the early days of this month.
Those two wins have seen Michael Bell’s charge rise 6lb in the ratings and while the official margin of victory last time was a neck, he appeared to have something still in hand.
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