Definitly Red

27th-Jan-2018

Bristol De Mai is the correct favourite for this.  He is a better horse at Haydock on heavy ground than he is under any other conditions, but he is also a talented horse away from Haydock, especially on soft ground.  However, I just don’t think that he has as much in hand as the market suggests.  He is only a couple of pounds clear on official ratings.

Definitly Red has been beaten by Bristol De Mai on the two occasions on which they have met, but Brian Ellison’s horse was below par on both occasions.  He comes into today’s race on a high, whereas Bristol De Mai comes into it on the back of a poor run in the King George.  The Twiston-Davies horse was treated for ulcers afterwards, but it is not certain that that was the reason for his lack-lustre display.

Definitly Red was very good last month at Aintree.  He got into a lovely racing rhythm in front for Danny Cook, and he looked the most likely winner from a long way out.  He won easily, beating good horses Cloudy Dream and Flying Angel into second and third places, with Alpha Des Obeaux well back in fourth.

A reproduction of that run should see him go very close today, but it was a career-best and he won with lots in hand, so he could do even better today.

His best form is on flat tracks, and that is a worry, as is the fact that he has been well beaten on three occasions at Cheltenham.  However, those three runs were all at the Festival, two of them on goodish ground.  He should be happier today on soft ground, and he won a bumper at the November meeting at Cheltenham in 2014 on soft ground.

Danny Cook gets on really well with him, he has a great record on him, and hopefully he can get him into a nice even rhythm from early.

The Last Samuri and American are both dangers too, but I would have had Definitly Red shorter than those two, and he is the bet.

DEFINITLY RED WON (SP 7/1)