'Put a line through his last run - he is well worth another chance'

Dan Skelton won this race with the lightly raced Vision Du Puy two years ago but he saddles an entirely different type this season in the shape of the first-time blinkered Too Friendly. 

Vision Du Puy was making it four wins from just eight starts when she landed this event under Harry Skelton but Too Friendly has posted just two wins from 11 outings over hurdles and you have to go back to November 2021 to find his last success.

He has been running consistently well in defeat and posted a run of three consecutive second places over the winter, but that means he has dropped only 2lb from a career-high mark of 126 to his current rating of 124 and will need the headgear to spark an improvement in form.

Skelton doesn't regularly reach for headgear and he has run just three horses in first-time blinkers since the start of last year. All three were beaten and they defeated only 30 per cent of their rivals in that time, so it doesn't bode well for Too Friendly's prospects here.

Bubble Dubi is the improver in the race and he recorded his first win at the fifth attempt over hurdles when scoring at Stratford last month. The handicapper has stepped in with a 5lb rise.

The last two winners of this race had similar profiles, coming in as lightly raced hurdles winners, and Bubble Dubi's trainer Stuart Edmunds has an impressive record at Haydock, with three winners, a second, third and fourth from just 14 runners at the track.

Gary Moore is another trainer with a superb record at Haydock. He has three wins and two seconds from eight runners in the last five seasons and sends Aggagio on the 240-mile journey from West Sussex to the Lancashire venue. That might prove to be a tip in itself.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

Dan Skelton, trainer of Too Friendly
He definitely has a chance. We put blinkers on because that will help him get through the race a bit better. He's not quite been staying two and a half miles, so hopefully this will suit him. 

Richard Newland, trainer of Whizz Kid
It's a competitive race but he's in good form and I hope he has every chance. He doesn't want the ground too soft, so the more it dries out the better.

Alan King, trainer of Big Boy Bobby
The ground was much too soft for him at Fakenham, so you can put a line through that run. He's strengthened up for the break we gave him after his Boxing Day second at Kempton and is well worth another chance.

Stuart Edmunds, trainer of Bubble Dubi
He goes there with every chance. He's a strong traveller who hadn't quite been finishing his races, but the quick track at Stratford brought out the best in him and Haydock is not dissimilar to that course. 

Jedd O'Keeffe, trainer of Fringill Dike
I'm looking forward to it and I hope he'll run well. He didn't stay two and a half miles the last twice, so we're dropping him back in trip which will help, although he could do with the ground drying out a bit.

Gary Moore, trainer of Aggagio
We've dropped him back in trip which will help him and so will the soft ground.
Reporting by David Carr

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