The Mandarin’s Sunday Selections for 29th October 2023

The Mandarin’s Sunday Selections from ParisLongchamp, Galway & Aintree

ParisLongchamp

Prix Royal-Oak (Group 1) 2.50
The Good Man
With conditions sure to be testing, it may pay to side with Stephane Wattel’s The Good Man. This is his trip, and he knows this course better than any, so Morgan Delalande will use the same tactics that saw the pair home in the Group 2 Prix Maurice de Nieuil here back in July. The Good Man holds form over the re-opposing British raider Tashkan from their clash in the Prix de Barbeville, so Harry Fry’s Metier may be the bigger danger, though this is first outing since May. The Good Man to come good in Group 1 company

Galway

Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Beginners Chase 1.16
Franciscan Rock
A decent enough hurdler who can make into a better chaser in time, Mouse Morris’s Fame And Glory gelding will be hoping for better luck on his second start over fences. He fell three out on his chasing debut at Gowran Park last month, but if none the worse for that crashing fall, should be in the mix here. No ground concerns, so just edges it over Gordon Elliott’s Favori De Champdou

Aintree

Jewson Vieux Lion Rouge Veterans’ Handicap Chase 1.25
Jimmy The Digger
Henry Daly might have the answer to this intriguing Veterans’ Chase with Jimmy The Digger on his return to action. He goes well fresh, having won an Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on his return to the track last year, and lines up on a decent mark. Alex Hales’s Boldmere also looks a likely type, with the useful but inconsistent Landofsmiles also considered, but Jimmy The Digger makes the most appeal

Jewson Fast Set Finish Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase (Grade 2) 2.00
Tommy’s Oscar (nap)
A top-class renewal in store for the highlight on Aintree’s Sunday card. The easy preference is for Ann Hamilton’s Tommy’s Oscar, who is nicely teed up for this run after a cosy win at Kelso three weeks ago. Paul Nicholls’s Hitman is likely to be a big player in the chasing ranks this winter, but might just need this run while My Drogo was last seen storming home in a Novice Chase at Cheltenham in December 2021. Off with an injury since then, so it remains to be seen if all the talent remains, so Tommy’s Oscar ticks more boxes in the final appraisal

Jewson Birkenhead, Price Street Maiden Hurdle 2.35
Inthewaterside
It’s hard to get away from the appeal of Paul Nicholls’s Inthewaterside for this Maiden Hurdle. A winner of both his starts, a Bumper at Exeter on soft, follwed by a 6 length romp at Sandown Park in February. Looks a decent prospect for Nicholls and Harry Cobden gets the leg up. The one to beat, at a price to match

Jewson St Helens Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase 3.45
Pembroke (nb)
The Skeltons have a nice one here, good enough to feature in the Grade 1 Top Novices’ Hurdle here last April. He was in a right ding-dong of a battle against Chasing Fire and I Like To Move It on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter, finishing runner-up after I Like To Move It sadly went wrong on the run in. If anything, he’d have reeled in Chasing Fire given another half-furlong, so is taken to break the maiden tag over fences here

The Mandarin