13:15 Catterick
This is a nice looking beginners chase over three miles and one furlong, with all five runners in with a chance of landing the spoils.
Central Flame is looking for a four timer although his three wins have all been over hurdles. This is quite a big step up in trip on those efforts but he was staying on nicely in each of those and it is a fair assumption that he will have a good chance of getting this kind of trip. He performs well on soft ground so providing he takes to the fences, he is sure to have a chance here today.
Racing Europe is by Kayf Tara and he was beaten a long way on his chase debut at Kelso in October. The ground was good that day and I think he may be able to show a lot more on today's softer ground. However it will still take a big effort to get involved at the business end of proceedings on what he has shown so far and others are preferred.
Seldom Inn has raced twice so far over fences and has look a useful prospect. He made a few mistakes last time out at Southwell which cost him the race as he stayed on really nicely and nearly caught the eventual winner just losing by a neck. If he can eradicate those errors I think he will have a good chance of being involved over this longer distance.
Hester Flemen hasn't raced for almost a year and has since moved from Donald McCain to Nicky Richards. She won her bumper in really catching style and followed that up by winning her maiden hurdle at a very short price. After such a long lay off and trying fences for the first time in a competitive race this will be tough for her but she does get seven pounds from the others and any market support would be significant.
Warriors Tale for Paul Nicholls was just beaten on his chasing debut at Newbury but an impressive looking sort from the Jonjo O'Neill yard. It was a good first run over fences and he should really come on for that race. That was his first run since moving to the Nicholls stable from Nicky Richards and they are sure to have learnt a lot about him from that run. A slight concern would be how he finished that race and whether or not he will get the full distance, however I think the pace may be kind to him here today and he was a close second on his final start over hurdles when racing for three miles so it hopefully won't be too much of a problem. If he does last home I am sure he is the class horse in the race and expect him to win,
Today's Selection
Catterick - 13:15 - Warriors Tale - 3 points @ 10/11 (Most firms)