12:55 Chepstow
THE VILLAGE WAY 14/1 0.5pt E/W (1pt)
(bet365)
Despite the fact he was pulled up last time out, odds of 14/1 look highly dismissive of The Village Way’s chances here. The runner is owned and bred by Sullivan Bloodstock, fairly big hitters in the racing game, who
used to predominantly send their horses to Willie Mullins, however in more recent times have begun to spread their runners across some of the big UK yards, namely Nicholls, Henderson, Olly Murphy, and today’s trainer, Dan Skelton. The ownership are known for their shrewdness in maiden races on these shores, boasting a 42% strike-rate, 5 wins from 12, across the last 5 seasons. The Village Way placed 2nd in both PTP starts, and found himself taking up the same finishing position on hurdles/stable
debut at Wetherby on his penultimate start in novice company, finishing well clear of the 3rd over a 2m trip too short. He was a fairly fancied 11/4 second fav for scoring second time up for the yard at Hexham in a maiden last time out, however was clearly unsuited by the extremely bottomless ground on the day over a much stiffer 2m4f, forcing his early withdrawal from proceedings. Upon drying ground, switched back to a galloping 2m4f, and with Harry Skelton taking back over on board, I’m
willing to chance him again, especially at this kind of price, and the fact he sticks to maiden company may just be a sign of one who’s set up to win.
