Scoop 6 Bonus Race Selection 17th february 2024

 

Here we go again as we chase down the Bonus on offer of £39,165. We have already won £92k last weekend and we now look to take those winnings past £130k.

It is quite crazy to think over the last 15 months we have won the Scoop 6 Win Fund 6 (possibly 7 times), we have won it that much I have lost track haha, along with 3 Bonus Races.

As always I put my heart and soul into all my work and I have spent the last week going over this race and every angle has been looked at and every thought process has gone through my head. My selection for the race was actually made on Thursday and all I was waiting for was the go ahead that this race was chosen. We got confirmation yesterday morning and I am still very confident we are on the right horse here.

We will touch up on a few horses who made the shortlist before moving on to our selection.

Over the last 24 hours all the money has come for Irish Hill who is trained by Paul Nicholls. I can see why he is being latched on to, as he won the race last year in good style and is now 8lb lower, if you take into consideration Freddie Gingell’s 5lb claim. The trouble I have is he doesn’t arrive into this race in the same form this season. When winning this race last year, he came into the race on the back of 2 wins like last year, whereas this season he is yet to win and has only been running off marks 3lb higher than winning this race last year. For me he has not looked the same. Of course Paul Nicholls could have trained him specifically for this race and it has been the plan all year but if that is the case, why are not using Harry Cobden who was on board last year? He has opted to use Freddie Gingell to claim 5lb instead and although Freddie Gingell is an excellent jockey, I just feel there is a bit of weakness in Paul Nicholls mind and a little lack of confidence, if he don’t think Irish Hill can win off a 1lb lower mark than last year, with Harry Cobden on board. 

That is not to say he can’t or won’t win, as he is clearly well handicapped on old form but I just would have liked to have seen more from the horse this season so far and more conviction from Paul Nicholls about who rides Irish Hill. 

The Ben Pauling trained Bad looks to be on a fair handicap mark and he comes into the race on the back of wind surgery. He is rated 122 and has run some nice races this season, although if he could not win a Class 4 last time out when everything was in his favour, he will need to improve massively to win this competitive handicap. He is up in trip which I have my reservations about as he has been pretty keen in the past and I am not sure going slower will help him settle any better. Since arriving from France he has not won a race yet and although he still has more improvement at the age of 5, I can’t back a horse who is yet to win when we are trying to find the winner for nearly £40k.

Nicky Henderson trained Hyland has been good this season with 2 wins and a 3rd but he has been running over 3 miles on his last two starts and surely 2m 3f is on the short side for him. He has potential and he could travel nicely into the race but I just wonder if he will get done for speed.

Monviel has been chasing this season and that has not worked out. This is his first run back over hurdles so he has to adapt to the smaller hurdles once again. He has good form over hurdles in the past but could still not win or even place in similar races, at the back end of last season.

While Jay Jay Reilly improved last time out, he has gone up the handicap 7lb and he has a task on his hand with a climb like that. 

Of the rest I can see Santos Blue running a nice race along with Rambo T, but when you only have one selection for this race, it is hard to put up a horse at 16/1 as we just need the winner of the race and this has nothing to do with value.

That leaves me with RARE EDITION, a horse who has always threatened to be top class and I think he could still have a few more pounds up his sleeve now up to 139 and stepping up in trip. He has always looked to have a touch of class and he showed just how classy he was last year at Kempton, when demolishing a good horse in Rubaud who is now rated 149. RARE EDITION is that highly thought of, he went to the Cheltenham Festival for the Supreme Novice Hurdle and the Grade 1 Novice at Aintree a month later. He didn’t feature in either but those races were at the very top and for them to consider those sort of races, it tells you what trainer Charlie Longsden thinks of the horse. 

His season started at Doncaster over 2 miles, when coming home 3rd to Geromino at Doncaster. He should have probably been winning that race but they did take out the four hurdles in the back straight because of low sun, so the race become a flat race and didn’t play to his strengths. 

Last time out he won at Kempton again over 2 miles and although it was a weak looking race, he had to dig deep and I liked his attitude. He made a mistake at the 2nd last hurdle but still rallied with 12 stone on his back, despite being flat out for a long way. 

For me it was a sign of a horse who really needed to go up in trip and when he did go up in trip, he would improve considerably. Today he is up to 2m 3f which is absolutely perfect in my eyes. 

Charlie Longsden confirmed what I thought after his win at Kempton, by saying ‘he wants an extra half a mile’ and that he would be flat out in a Betfair Hurdle over 2 miles. 

That means they have skipped last week’s £87k Betfair Hurdle for today’s £26k handicap all because he wants today’s trip. 

They have also managed to secure Harry Cobden, the best jockey in the race without doubt and the jockey who won this race last year on Irish Hill. Having him in the saddle is always worth half a stone as he seems to have his horses in all the right positions the majority of the time. 

RARE EDITION is rated 139 and will have to carry 11st 7lb, so it is not going to be easy but for me his class can win him this race along with the class of the jockey, along with the step up in trip. 

He is also a horse who seems to be much better going right handed. His form going right handed reads 121 and Ascot will suit him very well.

I am quietly confident that come the end of the race, RARE EDITION can win our 4th Bonus Race in 15 months. 

LET’S DO THIS!