Well Refreshed

16th-Feb-2013

The market for Haydock’s Grand National Trial has an attractive shape to it at this stage with 18 entries and bookmakers betting each-way the first four places. There has to be a possibility that less than 16 horses will be declared and so the day-of-the-race market may well offer only three places for each-way betting …

Well Refreshed has been hugely progressive since going over fences this season, rising from an opening handicap mark of 100 to his current rating of 129 thanks to three wins from his last four starts. The latest of those was most impressive, when he ran away with the Sussex National at Plumpton last month, proving decisively that he stays well beyond three miles.

They weren’t bad races that he was winning before then either. Three runs ago he was giving Pete The Feat a race when he fell at the second last at Lingfield. Neither horse had been asked for maximum effort at that stage and, given that a feature of Well Refreshed’s performances this season has been the way in which he has picked up late on in his races, he wasn’t necessarily done with at the time. The winner is now rated 20lb higher than the mark off which he ran on that occasion.

On his next start, Well Refreshed won a useful handicap chase back at Lingfield, beating Rigadin De Beauchene into second place. Admittedly he was getting 14lb from Venetia Williams’ horse that day, but he beat him fair and square, producing his usual strong burst from the final fence without Joshua Moore having to get too serious with him and probably winning with a fair bit more in hand than the three-and-a-half-length winning margin.

Rigadin De Beauchene has obviously progressed from that himself, running out a game winner of the Classic Chase at Warwick last month, and he is now 12lb better off with Well Refreshed, but Gary Moore’s horse probably had plenty left to give that day had more been required. Also, he had made a bad mistake at the fourth last fence. Rigadin De Beauchene is a really likeable horse, and he has a big chance in Saturday’s race, but Well Refreshed is twice his price, and that doesn’t really make sense.

Obviously Well Refreshed’s most impressive display came on his most recent run in the Sussex National, where is jumping was a little chancy at times, but he warmed up as the race went on, and he scooted clear from several solid benchmarks from the home turn to win by 28 lengths.

He has been raised 15lb for that, but you had to expect a hike of that magnitude and he has the scope to cope with it, given that he has raced just five times over fences and still has significant scope for progression. Also, if top weight Silver By Nature takes his chance – and it looks as though he will – Well Refreshed will only have 10st 3lb to carry on Saturday, less Joshua Moore’s 3lb claim.

His jumping remains a slight concern, but Haydock’s fences are not as formidable as they used to be, they are small portable fences that are not too stiff. He should be okay over them.

He stays strongly, he acts on testing ground and, for a horse near the bottom of the weights, he has a touch of class. Gary Moore’s horses continue in good form, and he is well worth backing at 10/1.

WELL REFRESHED WON (ADV 10/1, SP 9/2)

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