2012 Long Distance Hurdle Betting Preview Part 3

Five Dream is the second choice Paul Nicholls runner in the race and, like many here, he’s not exactly been a regular in the winner’s circle. He was beaten a full 115 lengths at Cheltenham in the World Hurdle (and he still didn’t even finish last). He finished fourth in his seasonal debut at Exeter and that was in a field of six in a 9K race. Clearly he has room to move foraward but looks to be out of his depth, tangling with Big Buck’s numerous times and only coming close here in 2011. 

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Should he run back to that iteration of this race then he’s at least in with a shout to hit the board. 

Fox Appeal has done fairly well as of late though he’s not been running in the classiest of races. He did win his last outing - a 10K handicap hurdle with a tricky field of 11. He also has two scores at Taunton from last season though he did fail his Cheltenham audition. At only five years of age, he does have room to move forward and should improve with the trip - facing Big Buck’s for the first time. 

Both of those Taunton scores came at over 3m so you know he’s at least got the distance. Expect him to be a cheeky forecast wager beneath Big Buck’s.  

Maggio has rattled off a few victories at over 3m but they’ve been in near basement races at Kelso. He has been out twice this season and won the pair of them by a combined 23 lengths. He’s another who could be in with a shout to improve and, at seven, may be a bit more tenacious than the others. He only seems to win relatively weak races though and doesn’t look to be a plausible win-only contender. 

Reve De Sivola has been unraced since 2011 when he was going over fences. He’ll be using this race as a stepping stone to other things later in the season but, because of the word Sivola in his name, you can expect a few to have an outside flyer on him. 

VERDICT: Big Buck’s to romp against a relatively weak field. Crack Away Jack and Fox Appeal should be best of the rest.