The Last Samuri

27th-Dec-2015

The Last Samuri improved over fences at the end of last season, he won a stayers’ chase at Kelso in March and he ran a cracker to go down by just a neck to Puffin Billy in a Class 2 contest at Ayr’s Scottish National meeting on ground that should have been too fast for him.

Switched from Donald McCain to Kim Bailey, he started off this season really encouragingly, finishing third behind Wakanda in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.  That was a good race and it is working out really well already, with the first and second filling the same two places in the Silver Cup at Ascot last week off, respectively, 6lb and 5lb higher marks.  They are now rated 10lb and 6lb higher respectively than they were for the Rehearsal Chase.

The Last Samuri was seven lengths behind that pair at Newcastle, but he is off the same mark of 140 today.  Also, he is more lightly raced than both Wakanda and Virak.  He is only seven and he has raced just six times over fences, so he has lots of scope to progress now.  Add in the fact that that Newcastle run was his seasonal debut and his first run for Kim Bailey, and he could go a fair way beyond his mark of 140 now.

He may ideally prefer a stronger stamina test than that presented by three miles at Kempton on good to soft ground but, given all the other elements that he has in his favour, that is worth taking into account at 13/2.

THE LAST SAMURI WON (ADV 7/1, SP 9/2)