Hugh Taylor

Published 15.30 - 12/03

Dinoblue is the reigning champion in the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase (2.40), but her dominance on the mares’ chasing circuit surely owes much to the lack of quality in that division, and she probably hasn’t faced a rival in that sphere with the progressive and in-form profile of PANIC ATTACK, who has contracted sharply in price already today but still looks value against the favourite, especially in receipt of 3lb.

Panic Attack has been a revelation in her second season for Dan Skelton (having been trained by Dinoblue’s trainer Willie Mullins when making a winning debut in a bumper, then bought out of the yard and switched to David Pipe). She is now unbeaten in four chases for the yard. Two of those wins came this season in what are traditionally two of the hottest handicaps of the year, the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Coral Gold Cup, underlining that despite being a 10-year-old, she is clearly better than ever this year.

She faced a much easier task in a weakly-contested Listed race at Newbury last time, but still enhanced her reputation, once again jumping superbly and coasting home on the bridle, extending her advantage on the run-in with her rider (who gave the impression in his post-race interview that he had rarely been so impressed by a performance) motionless.

She’s an enthusiastic chaser in the form of her life, she jumps well and handles any ground, and although Dinoblue is clearly a very tough mare to beat in this division, she has been facing a fairly small pool of horses that are some way short of top class when racing in this sphere and Panic Attack might prove a much tougher rival.

KARL DES TOURELLES ran very well but seemed not quite to get home in the 3m handicap hurdles at this meeting and the Punchestown Festival last year, and he looks an interesting runner reverting to the smaller obstacles over the 2m4f trip in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle (5.20).

In the Pertemps Final he was disputing the lead approaching the final flight with the eventual first and second, Doddiethegreat and Jeriko De Reponet, before eventually fading into seventh.

Renewing rivalry with that pair at Punchestown next time, he led early in the straight travelling well and was in the air at the same time at the last as the first and second, who were reversing positions from Cheltenham, but again shaped as if not quite getting home in a truly-run 3m race.

He has been tried over fences this year without much success, though did run a lot better than had previously been the case when fourth on his handicap debut last time. He was entered for Thursday’s novices’ handicap chase here, but wasn’t declared, and given the three best performances of his career have come over hurdles in the biggest fields he has encountered, he might go well at decent odds here.

In the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (3.20), MONEYGARROW’s form to date falls a fair way short of what is likely to be required, but both his racecourse performances and his trainer’s comments suggest that he’s really starting to click now, and he could go well at decent odds.

It was an uncharacteristic move from Dan Skelton to thrust an ex-bumper horse into Grade 2 company on his first two starts, and predictably he wasn’t up to the task despite running creditably on each occasion.

He had wind surgery after those first two runs and readily won dropped into maiden hurdle company at Warwick next time.

It was his latest run at Windsor, however, that marked him out as a potentially high-class performer. He faced the promising They Call Me Hugo – who was backed in from 7-4 to 6-5 in the late show – and picked up better than that rival to win cosily. What was impressive was the manner in which they quickened away from Swindon Village, who had looked a fair performer when winning on his previous start and did so again next time.

That impression was backed up by the sectional times, as Moneygarrow was faster in the closing stages than Potters Charm, the 149-rated winner of the 2m4f race later on the card, despite the fact that the latter race had been run at an even steadier gallop than Moneygarrow’s race.

It’s interesting that the trainers of the first two home, Skelton and Olly Murphy, each had two potential candidates for this race, and the other pair, Dalston Lad (Skelton) and Ubatuba met each other in a Grade 2 event at Haydock last month. The Skelton horse also came on top there in a good time, and it’s interesting that Moneygarrow, rather than Dalston Lad, who reportedly heads for Aintree, runs here; Ubatuba is a lively outsider here and not without a chance, which is also interesting as Murphy had stated that They Call Me Hugo was one of his two best chances at the meeting before being ruled out by injury.

Moneygarrow has yet to encounter a strongly-run 3m, but he might improve again for it, and he could be worth chancing in an open-looking race.

At The Races have agreed to a change to my working days for this column as of 2025. Whilst this job has always been a labour of love rather than being remotely onerous, it does require a fair commitment of time, and after 16 years of producing a column for seven days a week, I wanted to give myself more time with my family, as the nature of working every day means that there have been limitations on what I could do with them, especially in terms of things like short trips away etc.

With that in mind, I’m no longer going to do a column on weekends (with the exception of Royal Ascot Saturday) and will instead be doing my column from Monday to Friday only. I’m grateful to At The Races for their support in this matter.

Important Note: The prices quoted in Hugh's column are those available at the time of publication (see top of article for exact times). These are checked both by Hugh and the person uploading the column. Readers should be aware that one of the main aims of this column is to demonstrate how Hugh uses his methodology to identify horses that are value at the time of publication.  Hugh’s tipping record (including profit & loss and return on investment) is published for the purposes of transparency and to demonstrate how selections have performed at the prices available at the time of publication. Readers should be aware that accepting shorter odds than those quoted will result in lower returns. There is no guarantee that the prices quoted by Hugh in his column will continue to be available after publication, because the bookmakers are aware of Hugh’s record over a very long period and tend to cut the odds very quickly once the column is published. For further explanations of the aims of the column, please see the FAQ.

Hugh gives a daily indication of when the column will be published via Twitter.com (username is HughRacing).