Although Harel De Marais is undoubtedly a frustrating novice, he is currently competing in the lowest handicap he has ever faced, and Mark Walford’s eight-year-old has fallen to a mark significantly lower than what he has previously raced well off. Harel De Marais performed well enough in Hexham the last time to indicate that he can perform well here, particularly as Market Rasen will be much more to his liking and the difficult uphill finish there would not have played to his strengths at all. I expect him to be there at the end, collecting place money at the very least, even though he carries 12st here.
I am certain that Hughie Morrison’s six-year-old is capable of winning a good race like this one, even if he is racing for the fourth time off the same handicap mark and hasn’t been able to win before. A track with excellent flatness, like Windsor, would be ideal for Secret Squirrel because he seems to be stretched by the stiff finishes at Ascot and Sandown Park. He won his beginner race over Taunton’s steep turns, and maybe Nico De Boinville can calm him down a bit from what will undoubtedly be a fast pace. Both of his victories over jumps were on comparatively soft terrain.
When he returned to Hexham in December, the signals were rather encouraging, suggesting that he could be handicapped over fences very generously. Hold Up La Colmine has clearly had issues that have prevented him from racing for almost two years, which has caused him to start steeplechasing considerably later than was probably intended. His only start in handicaps in that field was a successful one, although he started from a 2 pound higher mark than he does here. He was a reliable runner over hurdles. Since he idled once ahead and clearly appeared capable of more, he won that race with greater ease than the tiny margin would imply. Hold on, La Colmine has had ample time to recover from her previous chase debut, and in the meantime, his trainer partnership have been in excellent form.
