Wincanton preview: Final Nudge can give rivals the elbow

David Metcalf | November 19, 2015

Final Nudge ran well when runner-up on his seasonal reappearance, and can go one better to open his account over the obstacles in the 2m 5f novices’ hurdle on today’s card at Wincanton (15.30).

The David Dennis trained gelding had some smart bumper form to his name, winning once and finishing an excellent fourth of 11 to the very smart and unbeaten Barters Hill in a Listed contest at Newbury.

Final Nudge looked a potentially useful type for hurdles judged on that run, and shaped with bags of promise on debut in that sphere when second of 12 to the now 135-rated It’s A Close Call at Taunton.

Final worth a Nudge

Although no match for the easy nine length winner, the six-year-old stuck to the task well after hitting the second last and the pair pulled six lengths clear of the third home Abidjan.

Abidjan is a really useful sort who has since gone on to land a hat-trick of successes and is now rated 135, and the form reads extremely well in the contest of this class 4 contest

Final Nudge also comes into the race on the back of a fine short-head second at Market Rasen earlier in the month when reeled in late on having looked all over the winner.

The six-year-old looks sure to strip much fitter for the outing, his first in 202 days, and this looks a nice opportunity for Final Nudge to bag a first success over hurdles.

Punters should be Armedanddangerous

In the 3m 2f handicap chase that opens proceedings (12.50), Armedanddangeerous can take advantage of a drop in the weights to provide in-form jockey Nico de Boinville with another winner.

The Tom Gretton trained gelding is on a long losing run having not scored since beating Royal Mackintosh by 10 lengths at Newcastle back in January 2013 off a mark of 103.

However, Armedanddangerous has run well to finish in the frame on six occasions and is now able to race off a rating of just 88.

That makes the 10-year-old dangerously well-treated on the pick of his form, and with underfoot conditions ideal Armedanddanegrous looks decent value to belatedly get back on the scoresheet.

Selections:

12.50: Armedanddangerous (NB)
13.20: Very Intense
13.50: Shuil Royale
14.25: Alder Mairi
15.00: Blue Buttons
15.30: Final Nudge (NAP)
16.00: Hope’s Wishes

Related

Why not visit our horse racing archives?