Kempton Placepot: Friday February 8

Alan King, trainer of Uxizandre.

Timeform's Matt Gardner heads to Kempton for today's crack at the Placepot...

13:10 - Islandmagee finished in the frame on all three starts in bumpers when trained by Stuart Crawford, and he has continued that trend, now in the care of Evan Williams, by finishing fourth and third in a couple of outings over hurdles. For all that he may be suited by further in time he remains with plenty of potential for improvement now handicapping, and he could just get off the mark. It's also worth sticking in Professeur Emery, who showed fair form as a juvenile hurdler in 2010/11 and hasn't been disgraced on either occasion this term having returned from a 23 month absence. The suspicion is that he retains the majority of his ability, and he looks to start life in handicaps on a decent mark. 

13:40 - Despite the large field size, 18 runners to be precise, we're going to select our only banker of the day in this leg in the shape of Uxizandre. The Alan King-trained five-year-old sets a clear standard in this race, based upon his efforts in both success and defeat at Newbury, and the fact that he remains unexposed suggests that he may have slightly more to offer. 

14:15 - Kie makes his handicap debut over fences off what looks a stiff enough mark but he is fairly reliable and his jumping has looked solid on the two occasions he has faced the larger obstacles, so he is the first one added to the permutation here. The other one selected is Takeroc, who was a smart chaser at his best for Paul Nicholls and, although yet to recapture that sort of form for his current yard, there was more encouragement to be gleaned from his effort at Newbury last time and he looks well treated if able to build upon that. 

14:50 - Plenty of these look open to improvement now handicapping, none more so than Wings Of Icarus, but it is slightly concerning that connections have reached for both the tongue tie and blinkers, so he is overlooked in favour of Legend Erry and Hatters River. The first mentioned was a fair winner on the flat earlier in his career but has been lightly raced of late, however he has shown promise in three spins over hurdles and could be a different proposition now setting out in handicaps, whilst Hatters River has caught the eye on both starts in handicaps this season, left poorly placed at Doncaster last time, and he is most certainly one to be interested in. 

15:25 - Champion Court should win this, but it wouldn't be the first time that a three runner race brought about a shock result were he to be beaten. Domtaline and Alasi are both capable rivals so the best solution is to include all three and move swiftly on.

16:00 - Pete The Feat has made remarkable progress this season and seems sure to make a good fist of thins from the front, but he doesn't quite strike as being banker material so we're also going to include Alvarado, who wasn't disgraced at Newbury last time and seems sure to appreciate the three miles faced today. 

Selections:
13:10 - 3, 7
13:40 - 3
14:15 - 1, 3
14:50 - 10, 14
15:25 - 1, 2, 3
16:00 - 1, 3
= 48 lines 

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