Henry Daly will have pulled out all the stops to ensure Step On Eyre is cherry-ripe to land the Tim Forster Cup (Handicap Chase), tomorrow's Showcase race at Wincanton.
Formerly trained by the late master of Downton Hall, Step On Eyre was just the type of horse that appealed to Forster _ a big, old-fashioned chaser.
Having remained in the care of his successor Daly, there would be no more appropriate winner of the extended three-mile-one-furlong chase.
The 10-year-old appeared to be coming back to form when second to Bobby Grant in a decent race at Haydock on his last start, form which should be good enough to ensure victory tomorrow.
Granny Rich has hit a fine seam of form this term and has been astutely placed by her trainer Paul Rich.
The six-year-old has progressed from winning a conditional jockeys' selling handicap to an amateur riders' handicap and a mares' handicap.
She has rocketed up the weights as she has progressed but although this race represents a sizeable step up in grade, it seems folly to look beyond a horse who keeps winning with so much to spare over her rivals.
Her last victory was a cosy seven-length success over Little Serena at Hereford last month and suggested there was more in the locker.
She should be on any shortlist for the Tote Bookmakers Hurdle.
At Huntingdon, Foundry Lane looks the pick in the March Handicap Chase.
Horses from Mary Reveley's Saltburn base can do very little wrong at the moment and, refreshed from a spell over timber, the nine-year-old should make a successful return to fencing of a mark of 108.
Often let down by his jumping as a novice, Foundry Lane finally got his act together at Wetherby, scoring in emphatic style, before rounding last season season off with a fine fourth in a competitive novice contest at Aintree.
He opened the current campaign with a timber success at Aintree before being highly tried in Cheltenham's Bula Hurdle where he finished sixth.
Despite tomorrow's trip looking a little sharp, Foundry Lane should make it a successful return to fences.
