Unibet Summer Hurdle – Market Rasen – Saturday 20th July

The entries for some valuable summer jumps races at Market Rasen and Cartmel supplement the main flat meeting of the weekend at Newbury, and it’s at one of the jumps outposts that you’ll find this week’s ante-post play for WhichBookie.

The Unibet Daily Industry Best Prices Summer Hurdle at 2.40 at Market Rasen on Saturday is the race in question, and there looks set to be the usual maximum field of 17 going to post, given there are as many as 29 entries.

It may be that one of the current ante-post market leaders Vocito doesn’t make the cut, as he’d need three above him to not be declared, which looking at early jockey bookings, might be wishful thinking.

Of the others at general single figure prices, Maxcel and Mostly Sunny are horses that have to prove they are up to this type of race (despite obviously being progressive types,) Black Poppy is having his first start for 7 months, and while Manuelito would be the one of the market leaders who makes the most appeal to me, I have an inkling he may be best on a galloping left-handed track.

So, with all that said, the ante-post prices represent a good opportunity to back a horse who I have been waiting to run back over hurdles, since improving massively on the flat last season. At 14/1 each-way with Bet365 for 4 places, and a wide variety of prices and place terms elsewhere, I would be recommending backing Kihavah at anything north of 7/1 or 8/1 at this stage.

Adrian Keatley is a dab hand with targeting certain races, and usually isn’t too wide of the bullseye when lining one up. Kihavah improved a stone in the ratings on the flat last season, and just before that improvement took off, he won here at Market Rasen in a handicap hurdle over 2m4½f. So, the jumps handicapper hasn’t had chance to reciprocate the improvement, and dropping back to 2m will be spot on for Kihavah, as he travels so well in his races usually.

The story of his flat campaign this season has been one of running well, but not having the right circumstances or conditions yet, and his run just 7 days ago in the John Smith’s Cup at York was an excellent one, and much better than the bare form.

Kihavah was asked to set a searching tempo on the front of a field chock full of classy, speedy 1m2f types. So when headed, that he actually stuck around and rallied slightly for 10^th suggested he is in excellent form.

Allied to that, when reappearing on the track within 8 days or less, Kihavah has a record of 11212. So, it seems that John Smith’s Cup run may have been something of a prep run for the valuable Summer Hurdle, and so at 14/1 each-way with Bet365 for 4 places, Kihavah looks to have been missed somewhat in the early ante-post market.