The Student Punter

13:30 Triumph Hurdle This looks like it could be run at a frantic gallop given the amount of prominent racers and that may suit the nutter that is Goshen . Although he has raced up with the pace in many of his recent starts, I think the bigger field here may allow him to settle better than he has in his last few races. He has been seriously impressive in all his starts over hurdles and the horse he battered by 11 lengths on his latest start won a very good handicap at Ascot by 16 lengths subsequently. Solo  is an obvious threat to the selection after his own impressive display at Ascot and is actually 5lbs clear of his nearest rival in this field according to the official handicapper. That rating is based on limited evidence though so I'm happy to pass on him despite the high regard his yard hold him in. Allmankind  only has one way of running and it would take some performance to lead all the way in this. Goshen 11/4 14:10 County Hurdle Big field handicap = B...

13:30 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle Official ratings have  Envoi Allen  7lbs clear of his rivals here and it’s not hard to see why. Unbeaten in his seven race career so far which has already included three Grade 1 wins, he looks a classy sort and I'm struggling to look beyond him from a win point of view. He's not my kind of price but I will probably be adding him to a couple of multiples for a bit of fun. Of his rivals  The Big Breakaway  looks a potential danger, he has been impressive in both starts over hurdles and although the most recent of those was a class 4 novice, that race has had a number of subsequent winners frank the form since.  Sporting John  also looked good when winning at Ascot last time and he looks the each-way bet with the chance the ground may blunt some of the class of the favourite. He only beat a small field at Ascot last time but did it impressively and certainly has scope for further improvement so it would be a...

13:30 Supreme Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) The picture had been blurred somewhat by Gordon Elliot when I initially started my write up, as he was pondering a potential switch for Envoi Allen to this race. However, after walking the track Sunday morning the decision has been made to stick to the original plan of the Ballymore which makes things slightly clearer, albeit still a tricky puzzle to solve. Those who follow this blog regularly will be aware I normally try and take on those near the top of the market but I won't be doing that in the festival curtain raiser this year, as I like the chances of  Asterion Forlonge . He has only had three starts under rules but already has a Grade 1 win under his belt after his demolition job on Easywork at Leopardstown last month. He has a win on soft ground to his name already and looks as though even deeper ground wouldn't be a problem at all. The owner has another strong chance in the shape of  Shishkin  but I'm going to ...