Placepot Pointers: Note this Jonjo O'Neill-trained runner down at Warwick

We’ve seen some smart animals unleashed on Friday’s Warwick card in the past few years, and it’ll be interesting to see which horses can take the step up from today’s races.

The first six races on the day, as always, make up the Tote Placepot, so finding a horse to finish in the places in each race is all you need to do to win a share of the pool.

We’re set to have fair jumping ground at Warwick on Friday, with the ground described as Good on both the chase and hurdles track, while there is a bit of Good to Soft about on the chase course.

Dan Skelton sent out Allmankind and Marie Banrigh to victory on this card 12 months ago, and has seen six of his 10 runners at this meeting win or place in the past three years. He saddles a runner in the first five legs of Friday’s Placepot.

The aforementioned ALLMANKIND (Leg 3 - 1:00) will need to step up from a middling reappearance over hurdles as he makes his chasing debut in a decent novices event. He gets a sizeable four-year-old allowance, considering he has the highest rating of these, that could prove generous. If taking to fences, he could be hard to peg back if allowed to go on out in front.

WILDE ABOUT OSCAR (Leg 2 - 12:25) won his bumper nicely before finishing fourth in another NHF race that has worked out quite nicely. He got off the mark over hurdles in good style, jumping slickly and quickening clear to win going away. Even carrying a penalty here, it’s hard to see him out of the three.

While it’s not a confident ‘banker’ selection, Jonjo O’Neill’s WRITE IT DOWN (Leg 6 - 2:45) is definitely better than what we’ve seen on his last two runs. Those efforts have come at around three miles, a trip further than he’s been used to, so we’re happy to put it down to the distance.

Three starts back on seasonal reappearance he was a nice winner over 2m4f, in a race that has seen five of those in behind go on to win since. A course and distance winner last season, it would be no surprise to see him in the Warwick winner’s enclosure again.

KARAKORAM (Leg 4 - 13:35) is beginning to look very well handicapped for Grace Harris, now down to a mark of 108. He hit the frame in six of his eight runs last season, all coming off the same mark or higher. A good third to the progressive Teqany on return in September, he encountered rattling fast ground on his last two outings, so a return to slightly slower surface here will likely see him in a better light.

While he’s probably not a win contender with a few unexposed types in this field of 14, but with him likely to be a big price, he could give the dividend a boost by hitting the frame.

The opening race of the day sees eight juvenile hurdlers go to post, with only one having jumped in public. Finding your three to fill the places won’t be easy.

The horse that we have seen in action over hurdles is the Skelton’s LUSTLEIGH. He showed nice pace out in front at Wetherby, jumping reasonably well once he got the hang of things, and looked booked for third when coming down at the last, with a gap back to the fourth-placed horse at the time. He’s clearly got talent and can feature with a clear round.

David Pipe is going well at the moment, with a strike-rate of 25% across both disciplines. He sends out French recruit ADAGIO who was a wide margin winner when upped in trip at Clairefontaine in August. If he can jump a hurdle, there’s sure to be a future for him in this sphere.

Leg 1: 1, 8 Leg 2: 1, 2 Leg 3: 4, 6 Leg 4: 4, 8 Leg 5: 2, 6 Leg 6: 6