Handicappers' Corner: Moore improvement to come from Well Refreshed?

Well Refreshed has improved beyond all recognition this season

Barely a jumps season goes by nowadays without a horse improving out of all recognition as it embarks on a winning spree up through the handicapping ranks.

Indeed, Hunt Ball's headline-grabbing 2011/12 campaign may well have been a remarkable one - he ended the season with his BHA mark 89lb higher than for the first of his seven wins - but is certainly wasn't an isolated incident.

For example, Make A Stand was clearly viewed as one of Martin Pipe's lesser lights when allowed to go off a largely-unconsidered 10/1 shot for a lowly Newton Abbot maiden hurdle in May 1996. Just over ten months later, the chestnut was sent off at three points shorter when lining up for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham - as for each of his eight wins during the intervening period, he led all the way to land hurdling's blue riband event!

More recently, there have been countless examples of horses that Willie Mullins has inherited from other yards who've subsequently improved significantly, including his multiple Grade 1-winning hurdler Thousand Stars (who couldn't even make the frame from an Irish Turf Club handicap mark of just 110 in the summer of 2009).

A switch of yards is often the main reason for these rapid and extended upturns in form, though the fact that some horses are later bloomers than others can sometimes be significant too. Which brings us to Well Refreshed (Timeform rating c138p), whose current purple patch can probably be attributed to a combination of both those factors.

Trained by Peter Winkworth until the end of the 2010/11 season, Well Refreshed was a clumsy sort over hurdles who managed just one win from six starts in that sphere. An early unseat on his chasing debut in October suggested it would be a similarly sparse return over the larger obstacles, but the nine-year-old simply hasn't looked back since then, winning all four completed starts and holding every chance (against another of this season's vastly-improved performers Pete The Feat) when falling late at Lingfield on his only other outing.

Saturday's win in the Grand National Trial at Haydock saw Well Refreshed emphatically deny a BHA mark of 129 (already 29lb higher than at the start of his winning spree), beating old rival Rigadin de Beauchene (c132x) by ten lengths despite meeting him on far worse terms than when filling the same places at Lingfield back in December. There is almost certainly better still to come, particularly if he can iron out his clumsy tendencies, with a race such as the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter next month appealing as an obvious target.

The Grand National itself was in the news last week due to the much-heralded publication of its weights by BHA handicapper Phil Smith, whose lenient treatment towards top weight Tidal Bay (c174) prompted plenty of debate until the gelding was ruled out through injury a few days later. Although the Haydock race didn't really live up to its billing as a Grand National trial - the unplaced pair Viking Blond (c133) and Teaforthree (c152) were the only runners entered for the big race - there were some Aintree clues to be found elsewhere at the weekend.

Chief amongst these was the second place by Cappa Bleu (c152) in the listed staying handicap chase at Ascot earlier on Saturday afternoon. The Evan Williams-trained gelding shaped as if every bit as good as ever, travelling with typically fluency and seeing his race out well having rather allowed winner Vino Griego (c145$) get first run on him at a vital stage. Cappa Bleu was placed in the Ascot race prior to finishing a keeping-on fourth behind Neptune Collonges in last year's National, when he'd almost certainly have given the principals more to think about with a clearer run through the race. He's clearly one for the shortlist again this time around.

Vino Griego, meanwhile, ensured it was an across-the-card big race double for Moore, who has presumably had to endure more than his share of frustration with this quirky gelding in the past. In sharp contrast to the prolific Well Refreshed, it took Vino Griego eighteen attempts to finally break his duck over fences, though Saturday's follow-up success suggests he may be turning over a new leaf. That said, the fact he's got so many indiscretions on his CV (including earlier this season!) suggests the percentage call is to retain his Timeform squiggle for now.

Timeform's top-rated horses in the Grand National:
BESHABAR (IRE)               178  
CAPPA BLEU (IRE)             178  
OSCAR TIME (IRE)             178  
WYCK HILL (IRE)               177 +
QUEL ESPRIT (FR)             177  
IMPERIAL COMMANDER (IRE)   177 ?
ALBERTAS RUN (IRE)           176
HARRY THE VIKING             176  
RARE BOB (IRE)               176  
ROBERTO GOLDBACK (IRE)       176  
JESSIES DREAM (IRE)          176 ?

Selected others:
ALFIE SHERRIN 175
PRINCE DE BEAUCHENE 174+
THE PACKAGE 174
KATENKO 172p
TEAFORTHREE 172