The Classic Chase at Warwick looks a wide-open contest with several horses racing under a penalty for their last outing. Sego Success has a 7lb rise in the weights to contend with but looked in great nick when winning on his chase reappearance at Doncaster over 3m. Alan King thinks he has a decent chance despite carrying top weight, but it is not a given that he will stay this distance having tried 3m3f and beyond on three previous occasions and not finished off his races.
It may prove to side with an unexposed horse at the opposite end of the handicap. De Kerry Man races off a featherweight and shaped with promise on his first start this season when unseating three out over 3m2f at Cheltenham. He finished last season with an unbeaten record, winning on both starts, and he looked ahead of his handicap mark in a race ultimately won by Perfect Candidate last time out. His jockey claims another 5lb which means he is effectively 26lbs lighter than the top weight. His price has come in for support this morning, but remains backable at his current price of 8/1 with surely more to come from this 8-year-old who is 3 out of 4 in his chase career.
Midnight Prayer was joint-favourite and strongly fancied before being taken out of the Welsh Grand National last weekend with a cough. This race has a similar feel to it with terrible ground and a marathon trip - conditions that have helped him run to his best in the past. He has won round Warwick before off the same mark whilst his claimer, Tom Bellamy, takes off a further 3lbs. He is rated 135 today, but won at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014 off a mark of 139. Alan King has a strong hand in this contest and if Midnight Prayer is over his bout of illness - trainer says that he scoped well earlier this week and had stopped coughing - then he could be very well-treated.
1pt win De Kerry Man @8/1, 15:35 Warwick
1pt win Midnight Prayer @9/1, 15:35 Warwick