2012-13 Jumps - 10 Dark Horses

With the first very good jumps meeting only 24 hours away in South Wales at Chepstow, I have compiled a list of horses that could certainly be worth following, and are under the radar for the upcoming season.
To ensure that you never miss them, either follow me on Twitter (@willbowler2k12), or use a tracker or alerts service, personally I use nagme.com, but there are others equally as good.
The order is irrelevant, but I will mention if I prefer some more than others.

1) Go All The Way (Jim Dreaper) - Go All The Way is a 7yo trained in Ireland by Jim Dreaper (best known in recent times with Notre Pere). This horse was fourth in the Cheltenham Festival Bumper in 2011, when trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, before moving to the Dreaper yard for hurdling. He had one win from two hurdles runs before running well behind the brilliant Simonsig at Aintree, on ground that was probably a shade too fast for him. Since then, he has chased twice, and won easily on both occasions at Killarney. He is a big, chasing type anyway and was always going to do better chasing than hurdling, and in my opinion, will stay three miles too. He could be very good and I like him a lot.

2) According To Trev (Nigel Twiston-Davies) - According To Trev is a 6yo chestnut who I really like. He won an Irish PTP before joining his current connections, and chasing, in time, will definitely be something he'll enjoy and win in. For the time being though, he will be running in staying novice hurdles. He won his bumper at Folkestone over 2m2f gamely holding off Coffee of Jonjo O'Neill's, and then won his hurdles debut in impressive style at Worcester back in June, again on good ground over 2m4f. Ground is the slight issue at the moment as he has never ran on softer than good, but if he handles that, then he could be quite useful.

3) Regal Encore (Anthony Honeyball) - Regal Encore is a 4yo gelding trained by a very good smaller yard in Anthony Honeyball. I was at Southwell when he won his jumpers bumper, and couldn't have done it any easier under a fantastic ride by Rachael Green (The first race on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8WKKYpAcPQ&feature=plcp). In the close season, he has been bought by JP McManus, but has at least remained with this yard, and looks a really nice prospect.

RUNS TOMORROW - 13/10/12 CHEPSTOW 5.20 - AP McCoy RIDES.

4) Taquin Du Seuil (Jonjo O'Neill) - Taquin Du Seuil is a 5yo gelding and has only had one run in this country to date. That one run was last Sunday at Uttoxeter, again I was there, and this horse was the best looking horse I saw all day by far. He was stunning to look at. He then went out on track and scooted clear by 15 lengths! That was very impressive and remains one to keep a close eye on.

5) Tilly Ann (Lydia Pearce) - Tilly Ann is a 7yo mare and to be honest, the one of these I'm least sure about at the moment, mainly because I don't know whether she is injured due to the lack of a trainer website. She has only ran twice in this country, with a second at Market Rasen followed by a cosy win at Uttoxeter last October. If she reappears and all is well, then I could see her winning a couple more this season.

6) Makari (Nicky Henderson) - Makari is a 5yo gelding who is trained by Nicky Henderson, even though it doesn't appear under his name yet. This horse proved a shade frustrating in many ways in his bumpers, after a really good second on debut for Mark Rimell, then was with Noel Wilson when travelling so well, but just not finishing his races off well enough. The owner has since moved him to Nicky Henderson and will be novice hurdling this season, could be very interesting.

7) Gleann Na Ndochais (Alistair Whillans) - Gleann Na Ndochais is a 6yo gelding trained in the borders by Alistair Whillans. He has shown improved form since handicapping and is best when running left handed I think, and stays three miles no problem. He may go chasing as he has size about him, but it isn't a must as I think he can win again hurdling first.

8) Headly's Bridge (Simon Earle) - Headly's Bridge is a 6yo gelding trained by the trainer who's horses never run in shoes! I think this horse is potentially pretty decent if he has his conditions, which I would say are between two miles and two miles two furlongs, with good in the description. Regardless, has a pretty decent mark and could go well in big field handicap hurdles.

9) The Druids Nephew (Andy Turnell) - He is a 5yo gelding who is certainly capable of a big season this time around, either over hurdles or fences. He was sixth behind the ill-fated Brindisi Breeze at Cheltenham in March, and then was sixth again in the Long Distance hurdle at Haydock, on ground that was maybe a bit too soft. He is a nice horse to go to war with, and 3 miles on good ground is perfect.

10) Water Wagtail (Emma Lavelle) - Water Wagtail is a 5yo gelding who is a very dark one indeed. He was very well backed to score on his debut at Fontwell in a bumper back in April. Basically, he got outpaced at a key stage before running on fairly well past beaten rivals into fourth. In terms of how good the race is, I've no idea, but I think he may be the best horse to come out of it if you look back in six months time. Certainly one to watch.

And that is your lot, others that just missed the cut were Aachen (Venetia Williams), Starving Marvin (Rod Millman) and Zarzal (Evan Williams).

Thank you for reading and hopefully they can churn out plenty of wins between them in this upcoming season.

Will