Support Act to take the lead at Wetherby

On Wednesday, we get the chance to return to Wetherby—a track that has been a happy hunting ground for us this season.

The race that has caught my attention doesn’t include runners from any of the usual go-to yards at the course, such as Skelton, Hammond, or Jonjo O’Neill. However, the 3m Handicap Chase at 2:45 is the race of choice for Toby Lawes to send his promising novice chaser, Support Act, for a second attempt over the larger obstacles running off what looks a very attractive mark of 113.

The 7-year-old is a half-brother to two multiple chase winners in Ireland, both rated in the mid-130s. He has generally been well-fancied throughout his career.

On debut, he was not unfancied in a hot Kempton bumper, where he found only the now 129-rated Nicky Henderson hurdler, East India Express, too good. Off the back of that run, he was sent off at 2/1 and duly won his bumper by 12 lengths, beating subsequent novice hurdle winner Telemetry. The now 126-rated Booster Bob was beaten 20 lengths, while 107-rated handicap hurdle winner Magical Arthur finished 46 lengths behind.

On his novice hurdle debut, he was sent off as the 11/8 favourite but pulled too hard and finished fifth. From that field of 10, eight have gone on to win races, while one has finished runner-up three times. The exception was a 125/1 outsider.

Following that run, he went off as the even-money favourite in a weak novice hurdle at Doncaster, which he duly won without difficulty by an easy 10 lengths.

At the start of this season, he was sent to Cheltenham for his handicap hurdle debut in a hot Class 3 hurdle. He wasn’t unfancied but dropped out before the third last. This was disappointing, but he underwent a minor wind operation before being sent over fences for his chasing debut at Newbury.

Given his breeding, everything the horse achieved over hurdles was a bonus, as he is bred to be a 3m chaser.

Racing over just short of that trip at Newbury, he was given an educational ride by Kevin Brogan, kept wide throughout, and jumped well apart from two untidy jumps. Nevertheless, he kept putting himself in contention and only gave way between the last two fences to the very useful, rapidly improving winner, Jasmin De Grugy.

Notably, after the last, Brogan asked him for an effort, and he responded well, closing in on the leaders before accepting his position, finishing just over seven lengths behind in fourth.

The form has worked out well. Here’s the plan for the winner, as outlined by connections:

“He ran a lovely race on chasing debut at Southwell. I thought that might be a bit sharp on quick ground, but he really put the race to bed early and easily, and I was delighted with him.

“That’s when we really thought we had a nice chaser on our hands, and I didn’t really want to go to three miles so soon, but because of the weather and the other options not being suitable, I thought Newbury and a flat track would be worth a go at three miles.

“It looked like he had the race under control and maybe idled a little bit, but he won it well in the end and has gone up another 8lb to 127—that means he has gone up 54lb since he started hurdling.”

Jasmin De Grugy requires one more outing over fences before he is eligible to compete for some of the season’s most valuable staying handicaps. He will now seek his sixth straight success in the Class 3 Jacky Upton Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at Newbury. A bold showing in that event on March 1 could pave the way for an end-of-season tilt at Aintree’s Freebooter Handicap Chase on Grand National Day—a race Honeyball won with Sam Brown in 2022, with the same horse also finishing second last year.

Sound And Fury and New Order, who finished fifth and seventh in that Newbury race, have both come out and won since—both were well beaten by Support Act on the day.

Today’s race does not appear to be the strongest Class 4 contest. The in-form Mick’s Jet (who looked a weak finisher last time) and the Sean Bowen-ridden Art of Diplomacy (who jumped poorly when failing to land a gamble at this course last time) are likely to head the market, meaning we should get a decent price on Support Act.

The forecast prices range from 4/1 to 8/1. With only six runners, I recommend a 1pt win bet on Support Act in the 2:45 at Wetherby.