KILLALOAN should give the in-form Paul Nicholls another winner by beating 10 rivals for the Williamhill Gold Cup Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle (4.00) at Taunton on Monday.
Nicholls has his team in red-hot form on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival, and Killaloan put into the Ditcheat pot with a score in a maiden hurdle over course and distance last month.
Sent off the 10-11 favourite to make it third time lucky – Fastnet Rock’s son had previously finished third at Plumpton and fourth at Wincanton – Harry Cobden’s mount made no mistake, galloping to an 11-length beating of Loop Head.
As a result of that effort, my selection’s handicap rating rose from 108 to 112.
But even that assessment looks lenient for a horse who has only just scratched beneath the surface, and Killaloan is expected to go in again.
At Wolverhampton, GIVE A LITTLE BACK rates a worthy market leader for the opening BetUK Over 40,000 Live Streamed Races Handicap (5.30).
The Sean Curran four-year-old got caught in traffic before motoring home for a three-quarter-length second to Kingwell over Dunstall Park’s extended mile a month ago.
The additional 182 yards here looks a bonus if anything, and a 1lb nudge up the weights is neither here nor there
MONDAY'S SELECTI0NS
STRATFORD
1.30 GREENROCK ABBEY
2.05 BO ZENITH
2.40 GO STEADY
3.15 ZAMBEZI FIX
3.50 TIME LEADER
4.25 BALLEE
TAUNTON
1.40 DESPEREAUX
2.15 SECRET SECRET
2.50 MARDOOF
3.25 GOLDEN SOVEREIGN
4.00 KILLALOAN (NAP)
4.35 SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL
5.05 WESTERN BARON
PLUMPTON
1.50 AH WHISHT
2.25 BOLSOVER BILL
3.00 KENNY GEORGE
3.35 RAMO
4.10 RIVER TYNE
4.45 TARA ITI
WOLVERHAMPTON
5.30 GIVE A LITTLE BACK (NB)
6.00 HAALAND
6.30 EIGHT MILE
7.00 DIVINE RAPTURE
7.30 ROCK CHANT
8.00 LETMELIVEMYLIFE
8.30 FLY THE NEST
DOUBLE: KILLALOAN and GIVE A LITTLE BACK
