Millar’s Movers – Tuesday Review | Episode 1

Welcome to the first episode of ‘Millar’s Movers’, a weekly show where Ross Millar reviews the weekend’s action and picks apart some of the most interesting handicap marks which come out every Tuesday morning. Please send in any questions you want Ross to answer next week and he will do his best to answer as many as possible!

Timecodes:
00:00 – Introduction
00:31 – eye-catching performances
03:43 – handicap movers & shakers
10:48 – horses to watch this weekend

#racingtips #millarsmovers #horseracing

Download SBK: https://getsbk.com

Follow us on Twitter – https://twitter.com/sbk

Hi and welcome to the first episode of my new show coming to you on all of the S spk channels where each week for the remainder of the national Hunt season I’ll take a look back at the weekend that’s just been take a look at some of the more interesting handicap uh marks

That have been moved or adjusted that come out every Tuesday morning and also take a look forward to the week ahead and any interesting races that might be coming on the horizon obviously this week pretty quiet we of jumps racing given the weather causing Havoc but there were two performances that caught

My eye both novice herders the first coming at Newcastle and the Ben Pauling trained Ben Jones with handstands now he ran out a very ready winner of novice hurdle there over two miles and four and a half fongs jumped well when he was on a nice forward stride his jumping when

He was in tight was a bit fiddly there’s plenty of room for improvement there he traveled very well through the race almost too well at times particularly down the back straight last time where you could see that as Ben Jones went to put him into the race slightly came

Alive in Ben’s hands you can see Ben lifting his hands off the neck trying just to temper his enthusiasm really liked how he quickened away between the second last and the last then that jumping and greenness he’s a big baby flat in the last hurdle but one with any amount in hand it’s

Been given an opening Mark of 131 I think that’s you know pretty decent level to put that into context Jericho de who is everyone’s talking horse this season has got an official Mark of 132 so certainly a fair level of form there and he’s come a long way in a

Very short time he only won his point to point in October of 2023 he was sold at the chum sales in November middle of November so he’s only with Ben paing about a month before winning at Herford so there’s plenty of upside to this horse just a 5-year-old now I would be

Surprised if he goes towards a Big Spring Target at the Chon Festival might perhaps see at anry connections are talking about going to the city Sydney Banks a listed contest at Huntington next time I think he’s a really exciting horse still only a 5-year-old plenty of upside and one that’s definitely worth

Keeping an eye on down at win Canton another horse that shares a lot of similarities with handstands and that’s Lord of Thunder for Joe tizard and Brendan pal like handstands he’s by getaway and uh like hand he was winning under a 7 pound penalty I always think

That takes a bit of doing at this time of the year when there’s plenty of nice novice hurdlers coming out and taking on these horses already got a win to their name like hams he quickened really smartly from the second last to the last but unlike hamst he looked far more

Professional he really got his head down I loved his head Carriage nice and low really battled ran very straight for Brendan Powell up the wide home straight at Wing Canton but you’d expect that this was his fourth hurdle start he’s a year older he had the experience of a

Pointto point and a bumper last year another summer on his back so he is going to be a bit bigger stronger and more mature he’s a really smart Prospect I think there’s been a notable change in the way that horses are campaigned out to the tizard yard since Joe tizard has

Taken his name over on the trainer sheet from father Colin Colin I always thought was pretty ambitious he was prepared to run his horses plenty that wasn’t really to my taste you know in my opinion I like to see novice horses brought along slowly and I think there’s been a subtle

Change to that under Joe’s stewardship so wouldn’t be surprised if he missed a CH Festival he’s a really smart horse and I do wonder whether he might actually face off against handstands at hunting done a right-handed track so far he’s done all his winning at Wing Canton which of course is right-handed plenty

Of similarities on the track so another smart Prospect perhaps a little bit more forward than handstands that extra year means he probably is a bit more mature but two nice novice hurdlers to keep an eye on and then moving on to the handicap movers and shakers for those of

You that don’t know these are the revised handicap marks that get released every Tuesday Morning from the official handicapper uh one of my favorite days of the week to get stuck into these have a look at what the handicappers made of the week just gone performances and

These cover from a Sunday through to a Saturday so this week we’re talking about the first which actually was a Monday because there was no racing on New Year’s Eve through to Saturday the 6th and so the first horse going up in the handicap we have to go all the way

Back to that New Year’s Day meeting at chelham where I actually had a pretty productive day but definitely felt like this was one that got away and it’s Ed keeper for Sam Thomas and Sam twist and Davis he traveled really powerfully through the handicap hurdle over three

Miles came swinging down to the last looked to have Butch who was the eventual winner covered all ends up and then Sam sent him down to the last on a forward stride Ed keeper put down and INF fiddled hit the top of the hurdle lost his hind legs on Landing lost all

Momentum because hind leg is where your power comes from then of course you got that Steep Hill at cheltonham on testing ground and he never really got going I saw a few people say that actually given that he never closed back to Butch in the run in that maybe he was uh emptying

Out as it was anyway I personally don’t hold that opinion I think he was traveling really strongly and about 100 yards from the line he changes from his left lead onto his right lead and really picked up again was actually I thought coming back at the line he’s gone up 5

Pound to a mark of 138 I’m sure Sam Thomas feels a bit sore he’s got a five pound rise for finishing second but that’s the way the handicap goes and I still think he’s a really smartly handicapped horse he’s a very strong traveler he is a good jumper

Normally I just wonder where the herd was situated right next to the near side rail at cheltonham and Sam Thomas came down that near side rail that’s where you’ve got the crowd I just wonder whether he lost his concentration and made a novy mistake but I think he’s a

Really smart horse going forward and uh I think I certainly want to keep with him another one that’s gone up and has gone up by quite a bit is Hill of Tara who’s gone up8 pound to a mark of 107 really well placed by venisha Williams

To win two races in the space of five days and the great part of her training was that the first win came at hayok in a conditionals hurdle race which means that he was able to run on her at Herford on the Friday without a penalty because it was a conditionals race so

He’s essentially run off 92 twice in between those two runs the handicapper this time last week put him up S pound for his initial eff ha do but because the entry was already made that rise didn’t take effect and he’s now been put up a further eight pound so next time he

Runs he is essentially going to be up 15 pound but I don’t think that’s going to stop him he’s a really smart performer clearly loves testing ground one at Herford in in a pretty moderate race but but one in really easy style and surely had a little bit of the edge taken off

Him from that run at hayok on testing ground just five days before he holds no entries now um but I’m sure he’ll be out soon enough while the ground is testing over three miles he’ll still be in a fairly low grade of 0 to 110 and as such

I want to keep with him and of course visha Williams has got Ned Fox who’s a really improving 5 pound conditional so it could be that she elects to put him back on next time take5 pound off and he was still to my mind look very well handicapped in that circumstance now one

That’s gone up in the handicap but uh to a point that I’d be Keen to oppose him and that’s sa Davies for JN O’Neal Who won on his handicap hurdle debut at lllo this week he gone up six pound now to a mark of 130 I wasn’t all that impressed with his

Win at lllo looked to me to make very hard work of getting past Emon who’s a very exposed staying hurdler does have a decent level of form deson but I thought St dve made pretty hard work getting past him his jumping was very moderate and he only won by a length and three

Quarters from Emon he’s gone up and he was getting six pound I don’t think that looks like a fair piece of handicapping up six pound now I think that will get his level fairly well marked and of course off a mark of 130 is going to

Have to go into a better grade of race and probably a deeper um level of race as well with more Runners this was a fairly small Runner Affair at lllo his jumping like I said was moderate and I think that’s only going to get worse in

The more hurly Burly of a large Runner handicap hurdle so St Davy for John Jo O’Neil not a horse I want to be following and one that I would certainly look to oppose if he was well found in the market next time and then to finish

With a couple of non movers and the first one is another venisha Williams horse George’s Saint who was quite the talking horse going into the chase at Wing Canton on Saturday and jumped fairly moderately jumped out to his left and I’ve seen Lots talk on my social

Media that that was maybe the reason why he underperformed I personally take a slightly different view if you go back through all of his form Mark of 123 is pretty much Far and Away above of anything he’s achieved before and his previous two runs at uh fos lass and at

Fakenham came in a much lower grade off a mark of 106 and 111 and both times ridden by 5 pound claimers in Lucy Turner and Ned Fox so you could argue that he was essentially about 12 pound higher this time for that effort I think that just found his level and I think

He’s going to struggle to win off this Mark of 123 in the future I’d be hoping that maybe as does happen at this time of year with Venicia Williams she tends to hit Forman I always think her horses are slightly overb in the market so

George is sa to be one that I would be Keen to oppose off his current Mark of 123 and then the next horse is another JN O’Neil trained horse and that’s inch house who poly when beaten by Stumptown at that New Year’s Day meeting at chelham was well fancied in the market I

Actually opposed him I opposed him with the wrong horse but my my thinking was sound I wasn’t impressed with his jumping at newburry all that much I wondered whether he’d be able to operate around lunting track and I think to that degree I was largely proven right his

Jumping was very moderate clearly got a big engine because he was still in there fighting coming to the last but those poor jumping efforts took their toll and he weakened up up the hill again he’s going to have to go into larger field handicaps going forward this was only a

Small Runner field and again he struggled and I think when he goes into a bigger field he’s going to struggle to jump and it is a theme I tend to find with JN Dre your trained horse if I’m honest I don’t think I can remember the

Last time I saw a novice jumper from John joil I thought wow that’s a a really good jumping uh horse over a fence they seem to struggle they seem to learn on the job and I think inch house is perhaps regressing with his jumping rather than improving and I also think

Lots of people will sort of follow trends as we as we normally do and think of M genius who went very close in the Ultima last year think that maybe inch house in that mold and follow him blindly for me they’re very different horses don’t think inch house has got

Anywhere near the quality of jumping that MB genius carried into the Ultima last year and as a a result I would be Keen to oppose in House of his current Mark of 137 and then to finish with a couple of selections to look forward to at the weekend for bumper weekend lots

Of action the rescheduled veterans Chase which was lost from sand down has thankfully found a slot on the war card which also features the classic Chase and in the classic Chase which has run at 3:00 I quite fancy the look of Molina girl for Gavin Cromwell he’s raided the

UK with regular success this season already eight winners to his name in this current season and Molina girl did win at chelham over an extended Three Mile Three back in November off an 11 pound higher Mark she was running a very good race behind eventual winner Broadway boy when coming down three out

At chelam last time probably too far to say how she was fared but she was traveling very strongly and had jumped very well to that point Conor Stone Walsh I think he will probably take five pound off again at Warick as he did at chman when she came down he’s the rising

Star in the Irish conditional ranks and taking 5 pound off would make that 11 pound rise not all that Hefty this strong test should Su her providing she gets into a jumping Rhythm which is essential round war with all those fences down the back stke I thought

Round about 7 to1 Molen girl was a good bet in the classic Chase and as for the rearranged veterans Chase which I think is going to be run at 335 on the war card I’ll be sticking with Lord de manil I think the ground is still going to

Ride testing arguably a shift to this left-handed track is more to his suiting his best form has come left-handed did run poorly in the classic Chase last year but Richard Hobson’s horses weren’t in great form at the time I think he’s been lined up for this the ground will

Still be soft he’s a strong stayer and I hope lordo will get his day in the sun in the rearrange veterans Chase so that’s it for the first episode of the new s spk show I hope you enjoyed it please do forward on to me any questions

Any queries you’ve got you think I can help with any horses that have got a handicap Mark you think I’ve missed or any disagreements you may have about what I make of the handicap marks that I’ve discussed this week I’ll be back next Tuesday and I’ll see you then