KILLALOAN should give the in-form Paul Nicholls another winner by beating 10 rivals for the Williamhill Gold Cup Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle (4.00) at Taunton on Monday.
Nicholls has his team in red-hot form on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival, and Killaloan put into the Ditcheat pot with a score in a maiden hurdle over course and distance last month.
Sent off the 10-11 favourite to make it third time lucky – Fastnet Rock’s son had previously finished third at Plumpton and fourth at Wincanton – Harry Cobden’s mount made no mistake, galloping to an 11-length beating of Loop Head.
As a result of that effort, my selection’s handicap rating rose from 108 to 112.
But even that assessment looks lenient for a horse who has only just scratched beneath the surface, and Killaloan is expected to go in again.
At Wolverhampton, GIVE A LITTLE BACK rates a worthy market leader for the opening BetUK Over 40,000 Live Streamed Races Handicap (5.30).
The Sean Curran four-year-old got caught in traffic before motoring home for a three-quarter-length second to Kingwell over Dunstall Park’s extended mile a month ago.
The additional 182 yards here looks a bonus if anything, and a 1lb nudge up the weights is neither here nor there
MONDAY'S SELECTI0NS
STRATFORD
