Vinndication Puts Unbeaten Record on the Line at Ascot on Friday

The Kim Bailey trained Vinndication puts his unbeaten run on the line on Friday when he runs in a Grade Two novice chase agt Ascot. The five year old won a national hunt flat race, before completing three hurdle wins and then winning on his chase debut last month. That takes him to five out of five and after seeing him win a good listed race over hurdles, there is every chance that he can go even better over fences.

He takes on just three rivals in the Noel Novices’ Chase on Friday afternoon, with the highest rated of those being Lil Rockerfeller. He unseated his rider in a very good novice chase at Cheltenham last weekend, and comes here with a bit to prove. He didn’t jump well last week, and hasn’t shown himself to be a fluent jumper since moving up to the larger obstacles, although there is no doubt that he is a quality animal with a lot of class.

Count Meribel is the next challenger and he is another who has struggled with jumping a little, and made a bad mistake when last seen at Cheltenham in November. That wasn’t enough to stop him from winning that race though, and he comes here with a 100% record of two out of two over the larger obstacles. Rounding off the field is Jerrysback, who was behind Count Meribel when coming off a huge layoff at Cheltenham and he has since won a smaller race at Bangor, but needs to step up on that to give these three a challenge tomorrow.

While it seems unlikely that Vinndication will be able to go on and reach the very top as a novice chaser this season, this kind of level is exactly where he should be. With question marks hanging over the other three horses in the race, this looks to be a great chance for Vinndication to stamp his authority, with his sixth consecutive race and his first at graded level. We have a good card to look forward to at Ascot on Friday, and Vinndication looks to be the best bet on it.