2012 Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle Part 3

The real ones to watch here look to be Trustan Times and Son Of Flicka - who are both entered at very solid prices. They both have credible claims to a victory here - Trustan Times really looking like he turned a corner in his recent seasonal debut. He hit a hurdle in his previous winning effort at Wetherby but regathered himself to charge home and stay on. He looks solid and at six he still has a lot of room to move forward. I don’t think we’re going to see a dramatic amount of improvement in the three weeks between races but you do have to respect his grit. The soft going shouldn’t trouble him too much and he has run second at Haydock before. 

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Son Of Flicka came eighth in that Aintree race won by Simonside but it’s pretty clear that he wasn’t under orders to be pushed at any point. He was a disappointment at Aintree last year when sent off as an 8/1 joint favourite, only to fall at the fifth hurdle.

He was a victor at Cheltenham this year in the Coral Cup and deserves a look based on the strength of that race. The victory on the day came more or less from nowhere but he’ll be a tough contender again today - especially at 25/1. 

American Spin trades at a competitive 12/1 and, though he didn’t really show much class in his seasonal debut at Cheltenham last month, he did show plenty of solid references by winning his seasonal bow last year at Haydock over a 3m distance with soft going. The victory came only by a head but it was actually a better victory than it looked on paper with Howizee pushing him all the way.

He stayed on gamely to win by a head and it really must be noted that this horse tends to outrun his odds. Expect to see him competitive on the run-in and, at eight years of age, you can expect him to have moved forward a bit from last year.