Dylan is Absolutely the Horse to Follow at Newcastle on Saturday

Sue Smith sends her progressive five year old chaser Absolutely Dylan to Newcastle on Saturday, looking for a second win to go with the one he picked up at Haydock just over two weeks ago. He comes here with just three chase starts under his belt, and he gives you the feeling there is a lot more to come from him, especially as the yard continue to find nice opportunities for him. He has won two of his three starts and is looking to make it three from four at Newcastle.

He won his beginners chase at Sedgefield by a wide margin to get his chasing career off to a good start and was then upped in class at Wetherby, where he finished third. That was probably too much too soon for him, with some good horses in opposition. He put things right at Haydock when winning a class 4 handicap when stepping up to two miles seven furlongs and he remains at that distance for this race. Staying looks to be a strength of his, and he is sure to stay at this distance, and will more than likely find himself running over three miles and maybe even further in time.

Absolutely Dylan won his race at Haydock off a handicap mark of 109, and he has been put up three pounds to 112. This race is a slight step up in class for him, but it doesn’t appear to be any stronger that the Haydock race, and off just three pounds higher he looks to have a great chance of winning again.

Of those in opposition, the one horse that looks to be the biggest danger is Skipthescales, a horse who has won on his only start over fences. That came off a mark of 116 and he has been raised up to 122, despite winning by less than a length and that may be enough to prevent him from following up here. Western Rules has some good hurdle form to his name, but he has only been seen over fences once and he unseated his rider in that race, so it is impossible to know how he will run and how that race has affected him. He finished second over hurdles last time to get some confidence back, but this is still a tough ask for him.

There is little else in the race to get too excited about, leaving Absolutely Dylan as the horse to be on up at Newcastle on Saturday.