Paul Kealy's play of the day at Warwick

Ballygriffincottage
5.05 Warwick

The 3m handicap chase series final (5.05) at Warwick is an unusually good race for a Thursday in Britain and it's certainly wide open. The Lucinda Russell-trained Your Own Story, who went off 4-1 joint-favourite when sixth in last year's Scottish National, is the jolly here after running second to Twoshotsoftequila on his belated return at Newcastle last month.

He may well be getting primed for another crack at the Ayr showpiece in the hope of softer ground as he looked a little run off his feet on good ground there, albeit not much more than a month after winning over 3m7f on good ground at Wetherby. He does look an out-and-out stayer, though, and whether he's quick enough for 3m (plus 93 yards) around Warwick is another matter.

Preference in any case is for topweight Ballygriffincottage, a one-time Albert Bartlett fourth who looked full of promise when thrashing recent Midlands National winner Beauport on his chase debut in November 2022, but has had a world of problem since, running only six times.

The nine-year-old showed next to no promise on the first four of those, but it has been a different story this season with Dan Skelton having nursed him back to some form with a fifth to Threeunderthrufive in a valuable race at Ascot and then a second to the in-form Rose Of Arcadia at Sandown. He has no issues with bad ground and might just have a little class edge over this field.