Mumbles Head primed to land Perth feature
By Stephen, bettingexpert.com | Published
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Peter Bowen has his stable in fantastic form and his revitalised Mumbles Head is selected to land Perth's Aviva City Of Perth Gold Cup Handicap Chase at 4.10.
The 11-y-o was a one time useful hurdler/chaser who travelled with plenty of zest when regaining the winning thread with pair of wins at Market Rasen and over this course and distance on his last two starts. He overcame a bad blunder early on at the water jump 25 days ago and may still be ahead of the handicapper even from this raised rating. Tom O'Brien is in the saddle again and any easing of the ground (more rain forecast) would be in his favour and against some of his principal rivals.
The £30,000 prize money has attracted a huge field of in-form stayers. Main threat may come from topweight Auroras Encore. The 10-y-o took advantage of a drop in the weights when scoring over 2m4f at Haydock in April and ran a blinder when just touched off in the Scottish National (4m1f) next time. A 7 lb rise seems fair and he is sure to be staying on well up the straight as others fall by the wayside.
Fairoak Lad returned from a long absence when winning in the first time blinkers at Ludlow 24 days ago. He made most there and found plenty to land a competitive handicap and is entitled to respect if avoiding the dreaded "bounce" factor.
David Pipe's progressive Shoegazer was a useful hurdler on his day, and has been successful on two of his three chase starts so far, including at Hexham (2m7f) recently. This is a much tougher test but he remains unexposed over fences and wears first-time blinkers today. However, his fencing has not always convinced so far in small fields and it remains to be seen how he copes with this seventeen runner field full of experienced types.
Zitenka is a consistent type who travels strongly but doesn't always find that much off the bridle. He got his act together last time at Market Rasen and has the assistance of the in-form 3lb claimer Lucy Alexander in the saddle.
Cootehill is another reliable type, although he reserves his best for the easy fences at Ludlow and may find his stamina ebbing here, while Cottage Oak needs the application of first time cheekpieces to coax some improvement out of him.
In summary, a wide open handicap but Mumbles Head has really recaptured his best in the past few months and can go in again. At around 7-1 this morning he is cracking each-way value with the bookmakers paying 1/4 the odds 1,2,3 and 4.
Stephen's Sunday Nap Lord Redsgirth 3.10 Perth
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