07 April 2010 Preview: Cotswold - Andoversford
by Pete Mansell
Trainer Kim Bailey has a busy week ahead of him with the Grand National meeting at Aintree followed by the Cotswold Point-to-Point at Andoversford on Sunday afternoon.
Bailey acts as Clerk of the Course at the Point-to-Point and at the start of the week, conditions were reported to be soft, good to soft in places.
Sam Drinkwater has not enjoyed the best of luck this season but he has a chance to put the record straight at this meeting and could land the first two races on the card with Grafwin in the Members and Gulishique in the Confined.
Fergal O'Brien cannot hope to match least week's exploits at Paxford but Grafwin would be a popular winner of the Members although they will not have it all their own way if Snakecharm lines up.
Drinkwater could team up with Gulishique in the Confined and the opposition could include Hi Tech Man who won the Ladies Open at this meeting in 2009. James Pine and Bourton-on-the-Water based Charlie Sands have a Hunter Chase success to their credit and that means they will probably start favourites for this contest.
Smart Boy Prince finished fifth in a Hunter Chase recently. The market may be the best guide to his chances but Liam Payter's assistance in the saddle is bound to help.
Angela Rucker has her string in fine form at the moment so it is difficult to look beyond Blue Business in the Ladies. This could be a real family affair because her nieces Abigail Banks (Touch Closer), Haggle Twins (Josephine Banks) and Alex Smith Maxwell (Winning Counsel) are likely to push her all the way.
Add Nobody Tells Me and Chicuelo who have been running well to the equation and you have all the ingredients for a very close contest.
There is a small but select entry for the Mens Open and this is best left to Civil Disobedience who has steadily been making his way up the Point-to-Point ranks and his connections could not have found an easy opportunity for him to make his mark in this grade.
Moscow Court and Twenty Degrees are useful yardsticks in this company but should not present any problems to James Tudor's mount.
The Intermediate could see Claire Allen team up with runners from Polly Gundry's stable. The West Country trainer has entered Roger Maggs' Berkeley qualified Ned the Post, where he could face a major challenge from Chris Leigh's Adelstrop trained Von Galen.
Bracken Island (Peter Mason) has run well in Maiden company this season. Others to note are Johnny England's mount Tough Cookie or Saddler George, who used to be trained by Carl Llewellyn.
