2010/11 Totetentofollow Outside Selections

There are a few locks that need to be included in the majority of tentofollow selections (Big Buck’s springs to mind), but the make or break horses tend to be the up-and-coming contenders who make very big statements. Picking a few outside selections can pay serious dividends your jumpers come in at longish odds in the first few races they win.

We’ll be examining five interesting outside selections we think could play decisive roles in the 2010 edition of the famous totetentofollow.

Medermit

This talented 6 year-old out of Alan King’s yard looks set to get the job done this season and he could really progress off a rather solid six year-old campaign. This is a contender who stands a great chance to get a result during the festival season and you’ll find a number of top bookmakers listing him as the antepost favourite for the Arkle.

He beat the likes of Punjabi last year, finishing third twice to Khyber Kim and a respectable second place to Go Native in the 2009 Supreme Novices’. He only had one bad run over the Cheltenham surface and that was in the Champion Hurdle to Binocular and you reckon he got sent to the front a bit too early there.

To compound our confidence in the son of Medaaly, he scored in his seasonal debut at Aintree against a small field, blundering once but recovering well to take the score.

Spirit River

The 2010 Coral Cup winner at the Cheltenham Festival, 5 year-old Spirit River looks a very serious improver and he looks a specialist over that particular surface. He’s a great shout anywhere from 2m to 2m5f and has shown plenty of versatility in his short career.

He looks to have developed a solid rapport with Barry Geraghty and he looks to be pointed at the three different festival races, priced at 25/1 to win the RSA Chase, the Jewson Novices and the Arkle.

A mistake undermined his promising shot at the Grade 3 totesport Trophy Hurdle at Newbury when he blundered 3 out. He’ll be looking to turn it around here during his six year-old campaign and a rating of 141 looks low to me and a 160 by the seasons’ end would be no surprise.

Al Ferof

Paul Nicholls’ five year-old looks to be a more popular play than most others on this list with some very encouraging results over his opening season on the jumps circuit. He has never finished outside the top 3 over hurdles and he looks to be developing a solid partnership with Ruby Walsh.

Another fantastic Cheltenham contender, he came a solid second in the Wertherby’s Champion Bumper but really had no chance on the talented Cue Card. He already has a Grade 2 score under his belt, having conquered the Winter Bumper at Newbury last February. Prior to that, he’d been campaigned in Ireland, scoring in a pro/am.

He looks to be pointed at the Neptune Novices’ Chase but if he can continue on at his current clip he should produce some solid results and will likely run at Grade 1 or 2 level all season. Very promising but, being a Nicholls’ horse, he will take lots of money before most of his races- ensuring short odds at the off.

Killyglen

This 8 year-old chaser was campaigned fairly heavily last season and looked to be paying the price for it towards the end of the season. His connections looked to have made some errors in assuming that he could handle 3m5f  distances and you’ll notice that the four PU’s on his record are all at longer distances than he can probably handle. He has a solid record on sub-3m contests and his ability to stay on in those shorter races has paid dividends as he tends to go off in the 7/1 or 10/1 neighborhood. Seldom a favourite, he can perform well on his day.

Betting on 8 year-olds to make significant improvement can be a bit of a crap-shoot but it looks like a more focused campaign could see him turning up on the festival circuit once again. He is a serious outsider and likely won’t be on many other lists- if he proves successful this year then he could be an integral part of your totetentofollow. An official rating of 154 looks like he could find further form. 

Soldatino

JCB Triumph Winner Soldatino is another quality contender out of Nicky Henderson’s yard and he has only finished off the board once in his brief career over hurdles. Our youngest outside bet at four years of age, he looks very dangerous and has bonded well with top jock Barry Geraghty. A 148 OR looks solid enough for a jumper that surprised a number of folks last year- winning at 6/1 in the JCB while holding off a late charge from Barizan.

He looks poised to have a go at Binocular in the 2011 Champion Hurdle and he’s sitting at 28/1 in the current ante post market. He definitely looks a cut above his competition around his age and, with a meticulously-planned campaign, could be a real threat throughout the season and at Festival Time.