Chef De Troupe – 7.15 Leicester – 1m 4F Handicap – 33/1 Skybet – 1 point each way
The 8 year old Chef De Troupe was a fair horse in his native France where he won 3 races over 1m 4F and postmarked a high of 89 on good ground.
He moved to the UK via Dr Newland’s jumps operation and was progressive winning 4 races over 2 miles and seeing his hurdles mark rise from 86 to 126.
Dr Newland is a shrewd operator and once Chef De Troupe reached his peak rating, he quickly moved him on via coming second in a good seller.
He has gone back on the flat with Tony Forbes and run three times this season. Twice on the all-weather, where he flopped both times, this is no surprise as he also came last in his single all weather outing when in France. He is clearly a turf horse.
Chef De Troupe’s only other flat outing was over 1m 6F, where he raced prominently and kicked into the lead three out, only to be swallowed up in the final furlong, finishing a close 5th off a mark of 70. That was a competitive handicap and a decent run. It looked to me Chef De Troupe would benefit coming back in trip to 1m 4F (that he gets today)
It’s strange as the papers are saying the drop in trip to 1m 4F will disadvantage Chef De Troupe, but I most definitely see it differently. All his flat wins are over this trip and Dr Newland campaigned him virtually solely over 2 mile hurdles. He knew the horse didn’t have the stamina for further.
The general rule of thumb with 2 miles hurdlers is that there best trip on the flat will be 1m 2F to 1m 4F and Chef De Troupe certainly seems to follow this rule.
Chef De Troup runs off just 68 today and with those postmarks in the mid to high 80’s he can make his presence felt in this small field.
At 33/1 with Skybet he looks a good each way play and I recommend 1 point each way.
He is still value at 16/1.
Purple Power – 3.10 Lingfield – 7.5F Handicap – 40/1 Boylesports – 4 places – 1 point each way.
The 4 year old Purple Power has only had 9 career starts, he started off promisingly in his 7F maidens on good to firm ground where he ran three solid races postmarking 65, 69 & 70, including a second over today’s course and distance.
His form dropped off when he started in handicaps, but that also coincided with runs on soft and good/soft ground that was completely different to the fast surface he previously encountered.
This year connections have also played around with his trip, trying him over 6F, then 1 mile and back to 7F and experimented with a hood on all his runs to help calm the horse down.
Now I don’t think the hood has helped at all, it can switch a horse completely off and I’m really glad it has been removed today.
For me, the massive positive is a return to Lingfield’s unique downhill 7F’s on genuine good/firm going. Last time Purple Power ran here he bowled along in front and loved the undulations postmarking 69.
Today he gets in here off just 55 and has the services of Luke Morris, who is the second top jockey at the track. I’m hoping Luke is really positive with him and without the hood Purple Power could easily boll along and be hard to peg back.
At 40/1 with Boylesports, who offer 4 places , he looks a nice bet and I recommend 1 point each way.
He is still value at 20/1.
