Another profitable day for One Jump Ahead

The good action over jumps continued at Newbury on Thursday with three more winners for the Talking Trainers section in OJA (plus one at Plumpton). They included Presley (85/40), Wordfromhome (5/4) and Radiant Walk (16/1) - the last two named won the two divisions of the bumper at the Berkshire track.

Presley looks another nice long-term prospect for champion Dan Skelton. The five year old showed promise in two runs in bumpers last term and was always going to improve once jumping obstacles. A gelded son of Harzand with plenty of size and scope, he travelled powerfully in behind the leaders before momentarily getting tapped for speed once the tempo finally lifted. Picking up strongly approaching the final flight, he wore down Octo Gane on the run-in to win going away by two and a half lengths. Longer trips will bring about further improvement with his future lying over fences eventually. Time will tell whether he develops into a Graded performer over timber but he has plenty more to offer.

Paul Nicholls has introduced some smashing youngsters during the last few days and Wordfromhome looks another decent prospect. Purchased for £320,000 having won an Irish point for Sean Doyle, he was popular in the market for the first division of the bumper and the Poet's Word gelding didn't disappoint. A relentless galloper, he made all the running ploughing through the ground and scoring by two and a quarter lengths in a time which was marginally quicker than division two. A big strapping four year old, he is likely to be kept to bumpers this term but the sooner he goes jumping the better. I suggest putting the runner-up Noble Viking in the notebook, too. Listed as unnamed on page 79 of One Jump Ahead, the Crystal Ocean gelding was in rear during the first half of the contest. Short of room when the leader quickened, he stayed on well in second and Philip Hobbs & Johnson White have a lovely type for the future - in the familiar West Tip silks. 

Please head to the Publications section of the site to order the 5 One Jump Ahead Updates, if you haven't already done so. I am working at Aintree on Saturday - the feature events the Grade 2 Molyneux Hurdle & Rising Stars Novices' Chase looks crackers - and hope to speak to a few trainers / jockeys regarding plans for the forthcoming Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham.