Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle 2013 Contenders

The runners and riders for the 2013 Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle will be confirmed at the overnight stage on March 11 2013. The race is a 2 mile handicap hurdle for four year old horses.

The weights for the race have been confirmed but these could increase if the top weighted horse Blood Cotil  takes up an alternative entry in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle. Of the horses officially rated 140, we would be inclined to think Stocktons Wing will run here whereas Vasco Du Ronceray is more likely to head for the Triumph. AP McCoy indicated in his Telegraph column that Stocktons Wing was his likely race mount in the race. We have noticed that the Johnjo O’Neill trained Another Sensation also runs in the colours of his boss JP Mc Manus and could provide him with an alternative mount.

Figuring out which horse Ruby Walsh will ride is tricky to say the least. We would however be fairly confident his pick will go off favourite. The Paul Nicholl’s trained Saphir Du Reu has displaced stablemate Ptit Zig at the top of the market and Walsh also has the choice of four more horses in the top nine in the betting – the Ricci owned, Mullins trained quartet Fatcatinthehat, Djakadam, Blood Cotil and Kalmann.

Of the other top jockeys Barry Geraghty looks to have a straight choice between Vasco Du Ronceray and Megalypos, Richard Johnson’s most likely mount would be Philip Hobb’s Pistol and Paul Carberry might be expected to get the leg up on Gordon Elliott’s Fisher.

Fillies have a tremendous record in the race winning four of the eight renewals from about 10% of total representation. Alan King’s L’Unique and John Quinn’s Cockney Sparrow look the most likely to do it again for the girls in 2013.

Second guessing trainer targets can be a quick way to the poor house so taking bookmakers running Cheltenham Festival non runner no bet concessions is sensible in our view.

For what its worth we have tried to match runners and jockeys in the table below and will update as more information comes our way. We also have a Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle Trends page. If you have race view we would like to hear it on our  Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle discussion thread.