'It makes little sense' - 16-1 shot to keep the good times rolling at Haydock

Martinhal
2.25 Haydock, Saturday
1pt each-way at 16-1 with Paddy Power

Little could dampen my mood after West Cork's victory in the Greatwood Hurdle on Sunday, not even sitting by the toilet on the floor of a jam-packed eastbound train leaving Cheltenham.

Not only did I manage to receive live updates on the Brazilian Grand Prix from a bloke about a centimetre away from me, but it also gave me a chance to assess whether I could find another 25-1 ante-post fancy.

As luck would have it, I found one in Saturday's Betfair Exchange Stayers' Handicap Hurdle (2.25) and duly backed him, so it was a relief when the horse was then entered on Monday.

As a result, he was trimmed to 16-1 (from 25s) but all things considered I still think he is the wrong price.

Just like with the Skeltons in the Greatwood, the natural place to start in this Grade 3 is with David Pipe, who is the race's leading trainer with four victories since its inception in 2005, including last year's winner Main Fact.

David Pipe: has trained more winners of the Grade 3 than anyone elseCredit: Alex Davidson

Pipe's Brinkley holds an obvious chance. I also looked at unexposed trio Bass Rock, Flight Deck and Riggs (caught the eye recently at Aintree) but ultimately landed on Brinkley's stablemate Martinhal.

Take a closer look at his novice hurdle win at Exeter in February. He made all in soft ground and saw off the useful Solwara One by a head.

The runner-up went on to win a novice hurdle and finish a decent sixth in a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Aintree when racing awkwardly and jumping poorly.

Admittedly getting weight, Solwara One was sent off favourite and getting on terms with the 152-rated chaser Pic D'Orhy on his debut over fences at Ffos Las last month before coming down four out and still looks well treated off a mark of 134 if Neil Mulholland can iron out his quirks.

In third at Exeter was Orbys Legend, who picked up a novice hurdle before making a successful reappearance in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow, which has often been a good guide to this race – both Aubusson (2014) and Sam Spinner (2017) were second in the race prior to taking this.

Orbys Legend finished 13 lengths behind Martinhal off level weights then but is now ten points shorter for Saturday's race despite being 6lb worse off. It makes little sense to me, so I'm only too happy to take advantage.

Martinhal is now 6lb better off with Orbys Legend (pictured) who won the Silver Trophy at Chepstow last monthCredit: Steve Davies

Martinhal was the final horse to finish in the Martin Pipe following that race, but he fell backwards rapidly after racing prominently and I don't think that's representative of what he can do. It was probably just too much too soon for him.

He has shown the ability to travel strongly, which is important in big-field handicaps, but I also think the step up to 3m½f will be to his liking given his dam, Gweedara, is a half-sister to Hey Big Spender, who was a dual Rehearsal and Classic Chase winner, and Miss Orchestra, who won the Midlands National in 1998.

Indeed, his trainer said "to me he's a three-miler" after his last success and indicated this was his early target in a recent stable tour.

The trainer is on the record as saying "he's a horse we've always liked", "I had high hopes for him" and "he jumps and gallops and looks one to follow".

There isn't much rain forecast for Haydock and, while Martinhal hasn't ran on a sound surface yet, his brother Western Morning's only two wins came on good ground and his half-brother Bright Tomorrow won on good to yielding too.

The lack of a prep run shouldn't be a concern as Dynaste (2011) and Gevrey Chambertin (2013) both won the race on their seasonal debut and, while Pipe has had only one winner in the last fortnight, the shortest-priced horse was 4-1 (no favourites) and Adagio ran a belting race in the Greatwood behind West Cork, underlining his trainer's ability to get his horses fit for the big handicaps.

Martinhal is 13th on the list – unlucky for some but funnily enough West Cork carried that number to victory on Sunday – so is guaranteed a run and will get in at the bottom of the weights off 132.

I'm hopeful he can be the next horse to give us something to shout about.

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