16th Dec 2016 | Horse Racing
Wolverhampton Tip: Upavon
Switched to Stuart Williams and improved on turf over the summer but is even better on the AW. Unlucky second last time out.
Given the prize money on offer I’m surprised the 5.15 Wolverhampton hasn’t attracted a slightly stronger field but it means we can quickly whittle down the main protagonists.
Dougan is the joint top-weight and sets the standard. He is 6/9 on the all-weather and won well at Dundalk last time but he isn’t hiding anything from the handicapper and could be vulnerable to something further down the weights.
It seems odd to say that Upavon is improving at the age of six but some key variables have changed. Last winter he moved to Stuart Williams who does superbly well with his string on the all-weather.
He ran out of time with Upavon last winter but he’s won four times on the turf this season, an excellent achievement considering he’d never shown much on grass before. If he’s improved on turf, what sort of heights could he hit on his favourite surface?
We saw a glimpse of his potential last time out when second behind Nimir at Wolverhampton. He fluffed the start and was always playing catch-up but he clocked the joint fastest closing sectional of the race (23.1s) and was only beaten by a quarter of a length.
Upavon didn’t get much luck in running last time and given it ruined Pat Cosgrave’s record on the horse (1112) look for him to make amends this evening.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 05:10 16th Dec, 2016 but subject to change
