As fans of jump racing are well aware, every racecourse must have its 'National'. Today it is the turn of Exeter, providing the afternoon's highlight in the form of the Devon National.
Ballgalley Bob is the obvious one, with that pair of 1s next to his name, but those successes came in very different conditions to those he meets today. Indeed, he has never raced on any surface other than soft or heavy and, although this track suits stamina-laden types, I just wonder if the others might get away from him.
Good Book (3.30) is a huge price at the current 15s on Betfair. He seemed to have any amount in hand when winning a similar race at Warwick last March, which followed disappointing efforts earlier in the season. Again, he comes here on the back of a single disappointing outing in December but it would be no surprise if he were to leave that behind and he certainly has the ability to win this.
I can't get away from the favourites on the rest of the Exeter card, but at the same time I can't say any of them look especially overpriced. The same is not true of Global Traffic (3.10), a big price at 11-8 to land the Southwell seller. He benefited from terrible jockeyship by Nicky Mackay on the runner-up when winning a claimer here last month but is in good heart and is suited by the conditions, which is all you can ask in such an appallingly weak contest.
Alas . . .
Nothing doing. Global Traffic was never going and got beaten a long way, which I suppose is the sort of inconsistency to be expected from horses that run in sellers at Southwell.
Good Book was more disappointing. He travelled up nicely behind the leaders for a long way but blew up suddenly at the end of the back straight and walked into the last two fences there. It looked like he wasn't fit, as there's no doubt about his stamina for this trip. If he came out again in a couple of weeks, he might be worth a look, as another 'P' by his name will ensure a decent price. Then again, he's clearly hard to keep sound and it would be no great surprise if he wasn't sighted for another few months.
Ballgalley Bob would have won had he made one less mistake in the home straight, when he tried to take three of the fences with him. He was still only just pipped by Obaki De Grissay.
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