Can The Jam Man land racing's equivalent of a perfect hat-trick in hot handicap?

2.25 Haydock
Betfair Exchange Stayers' Handicap Hurdle | 3m½f | 4yo+ | ITV/RTV

Football means everything in Liverpool and inhabitants of English football’s most successful city will be familiar with the notion of a perfect hat-trick: when an individual player scores three goals in a match, one with the head, one with the left foot and one with the right foot.

There’s a chance for a similarly unique feat on Merseyside when The Jam Man bids to complete racing’s equivalent of the perfect hat-trick in this valuable staying handicap hurdle.

The Jam Man is one of the most versatile horses in training and has shown that on his last two outings. He was successful over 2m½f on the Flat at York last month and used that as an unconventional springboard to victory in the ultra-competitive Troytown Handicap Chase over 3m at Navan 13 days ago.

So can he complete the set with a win in this hurdle race?

This is a much tougher task as he was taking advantage of comparatively low marks on the Flat and over fences for those recent wins, but he is a better hurdler according to Racing Post Ratings and the booking of Maxine O’Sullivan, claiming 5lb, is a positive.

One of the leading female riders on the point-to-point circuit for a number of years in Ireland, O’Sullivan doesn’t make the trip to Britain often but she has a remarkable record when doing so.

She has had just five rides across the Irish Sea in the last five seasons but four won and the other was third. A £1 bet on all of them would have yielded a profit of £70.74.

David Pipe completed a hat-trick of his own this race from 2010-13 and two of his winners, Grands Crus and Dynaste, went on to win Grade 1 events over fences later in their careers.

Pipe’s runner this year has a completely different profile, though. Main Fact has a intriguing pedigree and has just completed a hat-trick in two-mile handicaps on the Flat. That made it eight wins on the spin, as he had won his previous five over hurdles.

Since the start of 2008, Pipe has saddled 220 runners who were switching to obstacles having competed on the Flat on their latest outing and just 24 of those won. That’s only a modest 11 per cent strike-rate for a £1 level-stakes loss of £40.76, but the figures do include runners who were making their debut over hurdles. So it may not pay to view them too harshly.
Graeme Rodway, tipster

Main Fact bids for fabulous nine-timer

The prolific Main Fact bids for his ninth consecutive win since January when he steps up to three miles for the first time.

Four times a winner over two miles last winter, he produced his best run over hurdles so far when encountering 2m4f at Uttoxeter in March, powering home by 15 lengths from Kateson.

That earned him a hurdles rating of 147 – he started his career for David Pipe four months earlier off just 98 – and it was no surprise when the trainer exploited the seven-year-old’s highly favourable Flat mark of 60 last month.

Main Fact duly reeled off a quick-fire hat-trick at Newbury, Catterick and Nottingham – all over two miles and all on deep, autumn ground.

Main Fact: has won his last eight racesCredit: Mark Cranham

Conspicuously strong at the finish on each occasion – he simply bulldozed up the middle of the track at Nottingham after needing plenty of stoking up early in the straight – there is every chance Main Fact will be suited by the longest trip he has tackled on his return to hurdles at Haydock.

Pipe said: “Main Fact has been remarkable so far. This is his toughest task off his highest mark, but Fergus Gillard’s claim will help.

“He’ll have to improve again, but he’s in great form. He doesn’t get going until the second half of his races.

“We had the option of the Greatwood at Cheltenham last weekend, but decided to wait for this. If he gets the trip he must have a good chance.”

What they say

Anthony Bromley, racing manager to Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, owners of Wholestone and Fauburg Rosetgri
Wholestone disappointed at Wetherby. He’ll need to jump with more fluency in this bigger field. Fauburg Rosetgri hasn’t been over from France for that long. He had some good staying handicap chase form there, and there’s a chance he could be favourably handicapped.

Ronan McNally, trainer of The Jam Man
We had initially planned on running him in the Long Walk Hurdle after his win in the Troytown, but the six-week break put me off. He thrives physically when he's racing and last Thursday he was heavier than before the Troytown. This will be a fact-finding mission to see whether he can step into better company. Paisley Park won this race off 147 two years ago and we wanted to follow the same route as him after winning a Graded handicap last season, but our aspergillus issue meant we didn't get to do that.

Fergal O'Brien, trainer of Ask Dillon and Imperial Alcazar
We love Imperial Alcazar. We were going to go straight over fences with him but he was a little later coming back than some of them so we thought we’d give him a chance here over hurdles. Ask Dillon is in good form too.

Dan Skelton, trainer of West To The Bridge
We were really happy with him last time. It’s a big step up in grade, but going to three miles doesn’t worry me and I think he’s got a great each-way chance.

Colm Murphy, trainer of Relegate
She's come out of her run at Navan in good shape and we think the step up in trip should suit her. I wouldn't imagine the ground will be a problem for her either. We're trying her with cheekpieces for the first time and hopefully they might just help a little.
Reporting by Richard Birch

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