Irish raider Go Native caused a major upset when sprinting clear to win the WBX Fighting Fifth Hurdle and leave Binocular and Solwhit trailing in his wake.
He was immediately cut to a top priced 12-1 for the Champion Hurdle, but that may well be a knee jerk reaction to what in truth was a farcical race run at a virtual crawl.
The form is probably not worth the paper it is written on, and even though there is little doubt that the winner is a top class hurdler with a major chance at next year’s Festival I would certainly be prepared to give the third home Solwhit and the eventually disappointing fifth home Binocular another chance before writing them off.
In fact the one horse that I would take out of the race would be Solwhit who will be seen to much better effect in a fast run race when able to come from off the pace and use his turn of foot to maximum effect.
The 6-1 on offer for him for the Champion Hurdle looks an each-way steal, and I can’t for the life of me understand why Binocluar and Hurricane Fly are in front of him in the betting.
I would take him at even money in a match bet against the two of them coupled come next March and bigger threats in my book are the Nicky Henerson pair of Zaynar and Punjabi.
The latter, in particular, is grossly over priced at 14-1 with Stan James to retain his crown and as always seems to have been underestimated by the old enemy. At this stage my advice would be to get stuck into Solwhit at a knockover 6s and have a saver on Punjabi.
Recommended bets: 5pts each Solwhit – Champion Hurdle (6-1 generally available); 3pts each-way Punjabi – Champion Hurdle (14-1 Stan James)
