Hot To Trot: Smith firing on all cylinders

Jumps trainer: Sue Smith

Sue Smith hit a purple patch towards the end of January and her form has shown no signs of slowing down in recent weeks. As the table below demonstrates, Smith is enjoying one of her best seasons yet with a run to form percentage of nearly 60%.

She has declarations and entries for both Sunday and Tuesday and there is no reason to think her run of form is coming to a halt just yet. Red Danaher has run over hurdles the last twice, winning at Catterick last month from 3 lb higher than this current chase mark, and will be of interest back over fences in the second race at Southwell on Sunday. He is yet to win in this sphere, but has shaped well on a number of occasions. On Tuesday, Hooves The Daddy is entered for a maiden hurdle at Catterick, but he seems to being brought along with handicaps in mind. Smith could hold stronger claims with Sharp Response in race three. He eked out a bit more improvement to get off the mark over fences over this C&D last time, and should continue to give a good account. Maxed Out King and Special Wells could take their chance in race five, but it would be the former who would be of more interest now just 1 lb higher than his last winning mark.

Flat trainer: Andrew Balding

Andrew Balding has been in good form since the turn of the year, but he has really turned the screw this last week and his runners are well worth following in the coming days. One of his best chances of the week could come in the shape of Dawn Dancer in the one-mile maiden at Newcastle on Wednesday. He has finished runner-up the last twice, but is well up to winning a race of this nature on the form he’s already showed, and could yet have more to offer. On Thursday Intransigent should appreciate the return to seven furlongs in race six at Newcastle. He is now a nine-year-old, but is on a fair mark judged on the pick of his form. There is also a good-quality minor event at Kempton the same day where Fortune’s Pearl could make his return/all-weather debut. He reached a useful level as a juvenile last season, winning twice and last seen finishing fourth in a Group 3 that is working out well.

Under The Radar: Chris Gordon

Chris Gordon featured in this section of Hot To Trot not too long ago, but he continues to impress with his results and is well worth flagging up again. The table below shows that Gordon is well on his way to recording his best season yet, just nine winners (at the time of writing) off equalling his best ever tally.

Gordon has a couple declared at Fontwell on Sunday, but the standout looks to be Hit The Highway, who won a couple of novice events for Giles Smyly in 2015/16, but has subsequently lost his way since. He was last seen being pulled up at Leicester, but starts out for Gordon from a workable mark, and could surprise a few. Jumping Jack, King Cnut and Fizzlestix all hold entries at Plumpton on Monday and, while none will likely go there with leading chances, it would be folly to ignore their claims given the yards form at present.