In the 6.30 at Sedgefield on Thursday, Trafalgar Rock is 2-2 over hurdles and, at the time of writing, favourite at 2.02 on Betfair to complete a hat-trick. However, while the Mount Nelson gelding won easily enough on his debut at Uttoxeter in June, the form hasn’t worked out and he had to work much harder to beat 100/1 outsider Playingwithnumbers at Worcester five weeks ago. Once again, the horses from that race that have run since have done little, or nothing, for the form, so Trafalgar Rock could be vulnerable under a double penalty. He was a consistent, if fairly moderate, performer on the Flat for Mark Johnston and has clearly settled in well at Dr. Richard Newland’s yard, but it’s easy to pick holes in his hurdles form so far. Conditional jockey Charlie Hammond replaces Sam Twiston-Davies, which is hardly a positive, so Trafalgar looks a decent lay bet at 2.18 on Betfair, despite his trainer’s excellent record at the track.
Selection: Sedgefield 6.30 Lay Trafalgar Rock at 2.18