Perzzini and Ned in the Park: Key Contenders For 2m Handicap Hurdle at Gowran Park National Hunt racing returns to Gowran Park for the first time since March and there’s a very competitive two mile handicap hurdle due off at 3.11. Eighteen runners are due to go to post and after 8mm of rain on Wednesday morning the ground is now yielding, and with more rain due on Thursday evening it is likely to ride as testing as it has been for a while. With none of the powerhouses of Irish racing represented this is looks an open affair and a couple of punts are suggested. NAP: Perzzini Next best: Ned In The Park Conditions not likely to suit many With the dry summer we’ve had, most of the contenders have been running on very different ground for most of the year and it might pay to take a chance on the only course winner in the field. Lorna Fowler’s PERZZINI has been absent for 687 days, but as a seven-year-old there’s still plenty of time for him to add to his sole win so far which came here in November 2023. The fact that that win came at just short of this trip on soft to heavy gping only enhances his appeal, as does the 7lb he has been dropped since his last start in a Punchestown handicap hurdle in November 2023. Following his maiden hurdle win here, he was happily bowling along in front here in his first handicap off that 107 rating before unseating at the fifth hurdle. Sent off at 5/1 that day in a similar race to this one, his rating was obviously considered reasonable. Trainer Lorna Fowler doesn’t run many here, in fact this horse is her only runner here in the last five years, so the fact he is returning to the track at the scene of his triumph surely indicates he is ready to do himself justice. John Shinnick has had two winners from only nine rides here in the past five seasons and his 3lb claim could help the partnership leave their rivals trailing. Park run looks suitable Another who looks likely to be more suited to conditions than most in this field is Timothy Doyle’s NED IN THE PARK, who has spent most of his eleven-race career to date running on quicker ground. A stoutly bred relative of the stable’s Grade 2 winning chaser Mallowney, the six-year-old had 10 races, (four bumpers and six over hurdles) before making his handicap debut last time at Navan. That came against a higher-quality field than he will face here and he shaped nicely staying on from the rear to be beaten nine lengths into seventh at the line. That came on the softest ground he has encountered since a couple of good runs in bumpers on his first two starts and even a repeat of that might see him go close in this lesser contest. With the prospect of more rain taking many of his opponents out of their comfort zone, and improvement still possible after his eyecatching handicap debut, he can repay an each-way investment. Claim The William Hill Free Bet Offer
