'It's a nice race for him' - can Liari get back to winning ways in Taunton's feature handicap hurdle?

Pic D’Orhy’s resurgent Ascot Chase success on Saturday was the highlight of a testing season for Paul Nicholls, who'll be keen to gather further momentum heading into the spring festivals. Perhaps his Liari can also bounce back in Taunton’s feature.  

Nicholls excels at Taunton (31 per cent over the past five seasons) and Liari once held a fair reputation. He was sent off a 9-2 shot for the 2024 Boodles at the Cheltenham Festival despite carrying top weight, but his mark has been on the slide since pulling up there.

Liari looked a non-stayer over 2m4f on soft ground at Musselburgh on New Year’s Day, holding every chance jumping two out before weakening into third. This is Liari’s easiest assignment since his juvenile days and dropping in trip looks wise.

Aurigny Mill arrives with the best recent form. He's progressed since joining Robert Walford and proved he can deal with intermediate trips when scoring over 2m3f here last month. Any quickening of the surface would be in his favour as he attempts to defy a career-high mark. 

Ten-year-old Stream Of Stars was held by Aurigny Mill on their January meeting and may require further assistance from the handicapper. A more intriguing runner is the Evan Williams-trained Out Of Office.

The assumption is Out Of Office is using this race as a springboard to an eventual return to chasing after a 468-day absence. He split Colonel Harry and Tahmuras in a hot novice handicap at Chepstow when last seen.
Analysis by Robbie Wilders

Going update 

The going is soft, good to soft in places with a dry and overcast forecast on Monday through to raceday. The temperature is anticipated to be 7C on Tuesday.

What they say

Robert Walford, trainer of Aurigny Mill
He's in very good form but it looks a slightly tougher race than last time, I thought. He's been a real, nice horse to have. He won over two mile three [furlongs] here but there isn't one of those races, so we're going over two mile one.

Aurigny Mill: won at the track last monthCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Liari
It's a nice race for him. He's seems to be in good order and hopefully he'll run very well. I'm not quite sure he got the trip the last day. We thought he might but it didn't work out. I still don't think he's been quite back to his best yet but hopefully he'll go well.

Evan Williams, trainer of Out Of Office
He's a very nice horse but we had a problem with him after Chepstow and it's obviously taken a fair bit to get him back. It's nice to get him back, it'll be a starting point for him. It's obviously a very competitive race but as long as he runs a nice race, we'd be delighted.
Reporting by Charlie Huggins

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.