Monday tips and weekend reflections from Ross Millar

Storm Darragh played havoc with the Saturday action in Britain, with just Sandown and Wetherby going ahead. Nevertheless, we weren’t short of talking points. 

In the Betfair Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, the Dan Skelton-trained L’Eau Du Sud confirmed the suspicion that he’s taken his form to a whole new level since sent chasing. 

He had proven form on testing conditions and while that perhaps curtailed his exuberant jumping, he passed his toughest test to date with minimal concern. 

I wasn’t blown away by Ballyburn’s jumping on his chasing debut. There is, of course, no doubt he’s a significantly more talented horse than L’Eau Du Sud, but slick jumping, particularly at Cheltenham, is a valuable commodity. 

The Skelton team are entitled to head into 2025 believing they have a key player for the My Pension Expert Arkle in March. However, don’t give up on the runner-up, Touch Me Not. He made a howler of at mistake at the middle of the railway fences and did well to get as close as he did. It’s also worth noting that Jordan Gainford probably didn’t ride with the same degree of exuberance as Sam Ewing had when partnering Gordon Elliott’s charge to graded victory last time. I think this more conservative ride blunted his jumping and on better ground, with a more daring ride, he could certainly close some, if not all, of the deficit. 

Later on the card, Jonbon bagged yet another Grade One as he became the first horse since Kauto Star to land back-to-back Betfair Tingle Creek's. Throughout his career he has constantly divided opinion, largely down to the fact he’s Douvan’s little brother, with some believing he’s over-hyped, while others believe he’s under-appreciated. My social media feed showed this performance has done little to change that trend. 

I’ve long been a fan, and I’d put this performance up there with the best of them. He made one jumping error, when coming up early at the second fence but, aside from that, I thought this was the best he’s jumped. Jumping the pond fence, he started to show his superior class and stamina, and readily pulled clear. 

The winning margin of eight lengths was a poor reflection of his dominance as he did no more than required up the Sandown run in. He’s yet to win at the Cheltenham Festival, but I don’t buy into the theory that he’s not at his best here. On the evidence seen so far this season, he sets the standard in the two-mile chase division. 

Or does he? At Cork on Sunday, Energumene returned from a 593-day absence to land his third Bar One Racing Hilly Way Chase. He’s approaching eleven, but there was no sign of age in this performance. He raced and jumped with heart-warming enthusiasm and, bar one mistake at the third last, accuracy. Banbridge did look to be laying down a serious challenge heading to the last but he ejected Richie Deegan out of the side door to allow the dual Champion Chase winner to coast home.  

All of a sudden, a division that looked to lack sparkle finally has something to excite us!

Onto Monday's action and I have found three selections across Musselburgh and Lingfield. Best of luck. 

No No Fizz is still lightly-raced and posted a good effort on her latest start to record her first victory, and that came on just her second outing for Fergal O’Brien having switched from Charlie Longsdon at the start of this season.  

It was good ground at Lingfield, and I’m sure that she’s sent on this long journey North in search of similar conditions. The form of that win is yet to be tested, and she does have a 5lb rise to contend with, but Tom Broughton is an experienced and capable conditional jockey, and his claim negotiates the handicap hike.

O’Brien has, on multiple occasions, shown himself adept at recording winning sequences with horses starting out on relatively lowly marks in handicaps, and with conditions to suit, I’m hopeful No No Fizz can strike again. 

One More Stroke ran promisingly on his seasonal return when making his chasing debut at Hexham where he jumped soundly throughout before shaping as though the outing was needed. 

He won two novice hurdles last season, both times on soft ground, and on each occasion he showed himself to be strong stayer, so this step up in trip looks sure to suit.  

His rating of 114 is a pound lower than his hurdle mark, and while he wasn’t able to score off that rating on his sole handicap hurdle outing last season, there are reasons to believe he’s well handicapped over fences. 

When successful at Carlisle last season, he conceded seven pound to the runner-up, Breizh River, who is now rated 114 over hurdles, and 133 over fences. 

Donald McCain has only a moderate win percentage of 9 per cent in the past fortnight, but his team are largely running with credit, and One More Stroke has plenty going for him on this second chase start. 

I love these veteran races; they’ve been a very welcome addition to the race program. 

Saint Xavier is well into veteran status now as a twelve-year-old, and is racing over a trip shorter than his optimum. However, I thought there was a lot to like about his reappearance run at Fontwell last time out. 

Racing on good ground, he got outpaced as they started out on the final loop, but he made impressive late progress to eventually finish only eight lengths behind the winner, Unanswered Prayers who advertised the validity of the form with a fine effort off a 4lb higher mark when third in the London National on Saturday. 

Callum Pritchard is the least experienced of the conditional jockey's in the line-up here, but is riding with huge confidence which makes his 3lb claim against fellow conditionals a valuable addition. It might also be noteworthy that the cheekpieces he wore at Fontwell are ditched in preference for a visor–the same headgear he wore for his last win. 

I’m hoping that the ground will be typically stamina-sapping at Lingfield, which should allow Saint Xavier to stay in touch before coming home strongly.