A winning treble on Saturday took John Size to just one win behind trainers’ championship leader Caspar Fownes, but the reigning champion handler will be well supported by punters to have hit the front for the first time this season after Wednesday’s all-weather meeting.
Fownes also has a few handy chances on the card but Size has four runners on the night and they will all command attention.
Honest lower grade galloper O’Halo took out his only win on the all-weather surface last season and his two recent placings on it after racing wide have showed he is ready to win again in race three.
In race seven, Size saddles up sprinter Bundle Of Love, who was a smart winner on the artificial track when he first tried it in September, then was beaten at odds-on when everything went wrong for him behind Green Zone last month.
There was nothing wrong with his third on the turf since and he looks to cope with all surfaces, but Size believes Bundle Of Love prefers the bit of give under foot that the all-weather surface allows horses.
Both O’Halo and Bundle Of Love will have Douglas Whyte on board but Tim Clark is the pilot for the talented but erratic Earl Of Leitrim in the last race.
His only placing in seven runs came on the all-weather and he is another who has caught the eye running home well in two runs this season on the turf. He looks ready to run well on Wednesday night, although Whyte may have given punters a stronger pointer by jumping off Earl Of Leitrim to ride the likely race favourite, Simple, in that horse’s first try on the all-weather.
Size’s other runner is an interesting newcomer, Victorius (Whyte) in race five, who was an easy Wangaratta winner at his only start in Australia under the name Forthright Opinion.
By Nathan Mody
