Western Jo caught the eye last time out and at 7/1 rates the best bet on today’s card at Doncaster (3.55).
Philip Hobbs’ gelding has only had seven starts under rules, winning a bumper and novice hurdle back in 2013, and has clearly had his problems and not been the easiest to train.
However, connections have perservered and he showed that he reatined plenty of ability on his first start for 342 days at Wincanton in December when third of 12 to Batavir in a warm class 2 contest.
After losing ground at the start when being a bit reluctant to race and slowly away, Western Jo made good headway three from home and stayed on strongly to be gaining at the finish and beaten just 5 1/2 lengths.
The winner is a well-regarded sort who is ahead of his mark, and the runner-up Bear’s Affair has some solid form to his name.
It was a very encouraging run from Western Jo, and he is able to race in this lower grade class 3 contest off an unchanged mark of 126.
That should enable him to be very competitive, especially if the fitting of the cheekpieces for the first time have the desired effect.
Daily Sport recommended bet: 2pts each-way Western Jo (7/1 bet365 – BOG)