Paul Kealy's play of the day at Newbury

Kartoon And Co
2.10 Newbury

In the 2m3f handicap hurdle at Newbury, Kartoon And Co looks well worth supporting now he goes up in trip against older rivals and can take advantage of the 12lb weight-for-age allowance.

Beaten only two and a quarter lengths when conceding 7lb to the now 129-rated Grade 2 Adonis runner-up Givemefive at Market Rasen in December, Kartoon And Co set too steady a pace for his own good when third in the Chatteris Fen at Huntingdon next time and then sat too far off another slow gallop at Sandown two weeks ago before staying on strongly into second.

He is potentially very well treated off a mark of 112 anyway, but looks sure to improve on what he has done over the extra yardage, and it will be interesting to see if Harry Skelton can get down to 10st 2lb, as he hasn't done that weight since finishing second on Flegmatik in the 2023 Coral Trophy at Kempton.