Totescoop 6 Sandown Hurdle Handicap

Although I loathe recommending a horse at cramped odds in competitive handicaps, LIBERMAN is an exception to the rule in Saturday's Totescoop6 Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday (3.25), and the 3-1 offered by the sponsors may prove to be more generous than initial impressions may suggest.Martin Pipe's charge, winner of the Champion bumper at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2003, did not take to hurdles straight away, but he has gradually got his act together and looked potentially better than handicap class when scoring at Market Rasen in November.The form of that race could not have worked out better with the runner-up, Patriarch Express, going on to score twice subsequently, including when landing the Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham last weekend. Although Liberman was receiving lumps of weight from Patriarch Express that day, it was the manner of his victory that impressed most, leaving the impression that there was a lot more to come from this seven-year-old.It is interesting that Pipe has kept Liberman off the course since November - one would imagine that the preservation of the gelding's handicap mark has been to the forefront of his mind - and he probably has one eye on the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, for which his charge would need to pick up a penalty to have a chance of getting into the handicap, given that he is rated just 130 at present.Stamina is not an issue for Liberman, the only conceivable reason he could not win a race of this nature off his current mark is if his jumping went to pieces. However, he has bound to have benefited from intensive schooling from his Nicholashayne-based handler and the son of Standiford should add to Pipe's haul of Saturday big-race victories.The stable has also entered Over The Creek, Team Tassel and Samon, all unexposed types capable of going well. Perhaps the last-named, Samon, would be the easiest to disregard on this occasion given that he has been off the track for 604 days, but Over The Creek and Team Tassel have both demonstrated their ability with victories in competitive handicaps, although both ran poorly last time and need to bounce back to trouble stablemate Liberman.Attorney General was just nailed on the line by another Pipe-trained horse, Korelo, at Cheltenham last time, shaping as though he was more than capable of landing a major handicap at some point during the season. Given that Korelo finished a short head second to Patriarch Express in the Cleeve Hurdle, Attorney General is closely matched on a line through those horses with Liberman, although the selection appears to have the greater scope for improvement.Blue Canyon readily beat Royal Emperor on heavy going at Haydock last time but the conditions will not be anywhere near as testing on Sandown on Saturday and he looks to have a stiff task giving weight all-round.Best of the rest could prove to be The Dark Lord who has made steady improvement this season and, despite being 9lb higher than when beating Mistanoora in a well-contested heat at Cheltenham in November, he could well sneak into the frame at rewarding odds.Recommended bet: 2pt win Liberman @ 3/1 (totesport)