'It's his first run over fences and he's schooled well' - analysis and key quotes for Southwell's feature chase

Jonjo and AJ O'Neill saddled a well-handicapped runner to capitalise on a reduced mark at Uttoxeter on Sunday and Imperial Bede is tasked with something similar in this handicap chase.

Icare Allen bolted up in that contest off a 27lb lower mark than when he joined the stable from Willie Mullins in the spring, and Imperial Bede arrives on a decent rating himself. 

He won by 13 lengths over course and distance in February off 6lb higher and showed some spark on his return from 108 days off at Wetherby this month. However, this may be an above-average race for the grade.

JP McManus is also represented by chasing debutant Jasmin De Grugy, a notable improver last season. In barely two months the five-year-old progressed from a mark of 73 to 108 over hurdles and seems the type to raise his game again for a fence.

Harry Derham is making a name for himself in the training ranks and his 6-10 record at Southwell means No No Tango is of immediate interest on his stable debut. As does Derham's ultra-impressive 36 per cent strike-rate with new recruits. 

This will only be No No Tango's second start in a chase. Who knows where his ceiling lies, while Give Me A Boom and Goldwyn are other newcomers to the discipline. Of that pair, Goldwyn's profile is more appealing.

He was prominent in the market for a handicap hurdle one class above this one at Hexham when last seen. This embryonic chaser failed to run his race there after looking reasonably useful beforehand, but the bang-in-form Charlie Deutsch combines with Mark Walford for the first time and this is his only ride on the card.
Race analysis by Robbie Wilders

Going update

Clerk of the course John Holliday is happy with conditions after the track avoided the rain that has affected large parts of the country.

"The ground is lovely," he said. "We're good to soft, good in places, and it's very nearly good to soft all round. We haven't had as much rain as everywhere else and there's no flooding or anything like that."

What they say

Mark Walford, trainer of Goldwyn
It's his first run over fences and he's schooled well at home. He was good when he won over hurdles at Wetherby and things didn't quite go his way after that. He's had a good break and we're hoping for a good season over fences. He's a big, strong horse and this was always going to be the route we would go down.

Adam Pogson, joint-trainer of Great Samourai
He won well at Huntingdon and then went to Market Rasen, where he got a bump after the ditch going round the bend, which knocked him off his rhythm. We haven't run him since but he seems well. As long as the ground is no worse than good to soft, we'll be all right. He's finished second over the course and distance and he should have a decent chance.

Frank Berry, racing manager for JP McManus, owner of Imperial Bede and Jasmin De Grugy
Jonjo O'Neill is happy with Imperial Bede and he goes there in good form. Jasmin De Grugy is making his first start over fences and Anthony Honeyball has been happy with his jumping. He's in good form too.

Toby Lawes, trainer of Onewayortother
He's a nice horse. We were happy enough with his comeback run and he should take a nice step forward for it. We're putting cheekpieces on to sharpen him up as he raced a bit lazily last time. He's going up in trip but he should manage it fine.
Reporting by Andrew Dietz

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