Horseracing: David Pipe’s City PM Column

AS THIS is my last column of the year there is plenty to cover off.

I’m looking forward to seeing EDEN DU HOUX back in action at Ascot (3.40pm) this afternoon. This looks a hot bumper, but he did the job nicely at Plumpton earlier in the month and we like him a lot. The soft ground will suit and hopefully he will put up a bold show.

We’re back at Ascot again tomorrow where FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT is a big outsider in the valuable handicap hurdle (3.35pm). However, don’t be too put off by his price as there have been plenty of surprises in this over the years. He only has 10st 1lbs to carry and we’ll put a pair of blinkers on him too.

Declarations for the Tommy Whittle Chase won’t be made until later this morning, but the likelihood is that DAKLONDIKE will take his chance. Tom Scudamore goes all the way up to Haydock to ride him and hopefully he will bounce back after a disappointing run last time. He will love the soft ground and we are hoping a visor will sharpen him up too.

Looking even further ahead to Boxing Day and the plan is to run WARTHOG in the 2m4f handicap after his recent Sandown win. Unfortunately, he has gone up 12lbs for that success, so life will be a little tougher. That said, jumping seems to be his strength so hopefully he can go well.

As for my Coral Welsh Grand National plans, all I can say at this stage is that both RAMSES DE TEILLEE and VIEUX LION ROUGE will be left in at the five day declaration stage. With conditions looking ideal there is every chance that both could run, and hopefully run well.