Grade Two Rising Star Novices’ Chase Guide 2022

Sebastapol is relatively experienced now over fences, and he made light work of Victorias Peak on his return back to action this season at Chepstow.

That was an uninformative two runner race, he did make one or two mistakes but it was largely a piece of work.

He was then vanquished by the very useful Sceau Royal next time out at Kempton, where again he made a few silly mistakes.

He will need to eliminate the mistakes from his game, but I’d say he’s a fairly solid chance in this with freshness on his side.

Hang In There has had a particularly good summer campaign this year, winning four on the bounce, culminating in a facile win at Newton Abbot at the back end of September.

However, he was sent to Cheltenham for a Novices’ Handicap chase afterwards, and ultimately he was pulled up - reportedly wanting a faster surface.

He may not get his ideal conditions here, but he does have a good attitude towards chasing and he should go well.

McFabulous ended last season with a victory in the G2 Select Hurdle at Sandown, winning a by a length from Indefatigable in second.

I think it’s fair to say he’s the best horse in the race, he’s achieved a lot relative to his rivals today – but he does have to take to fences, as a few of these are battle hardened chasers at this point in time.

He doesn’t lack for class, even if he doesn’t jump as well as hoped – he may just be able to eek out a victory against a lesser calibre of horse.

The one to beat.

Uhtred is a relatively new recruit to the Dan Skelton stable, after his switch from Joseph O’Brien’s yard. He ran to a very decent level in Ireland on several occasions, and he’s always showed glimpses of real class.

On his debut for the stable at Cheltenham, Uhtred jumped the road crossing approaching the straight and he was quickly pulled up after Harry Skelton said he “felt amiss”.

Nothing came to light on the post-race examination, maybe he just lost his equilibrium – but he’s probably worth forgiving.

Interesting contender.

Victorias Peak had a very decent P2P record, but she’s only made the track under rules five times. She seems to have had her issues off the track – hence the lack of racing – but she has always shown glimpses of real ability.

She is a winner over hurdles, but she was comprehensively beaten by Sebastapol on her chasing debut last month.

She has lots on to turn around that form, and that may not be enough to win either! Hard to fancy.

Mortlach has been busy. He’s ran eleven times since April, he’s managed to win on six occasions, which is a very useful strike rate.However, he has been winning at a much lower level as opposed to some of these.

He will have to improve again should he play a part in the finish here - with that said – he himself looks in good form and the yard are currently operating at a healthy strike rate too, so he can’t be ruled out entirely.