Hot To Trot: Warren in Great form

Jumps trainer: Paul Nicholls

There is nothing surprising about last season’s champion trainer Paul Nicholls having plenty of winners – he is currently best priced at 4/1-on to land the trainers’ title again this term – but his runners have seemingly been in much better form so far in February compared to the period from late-December through to the end of January. After enjoying six winners in a row (at Exeter and Ascot) in mid-December, Nicholls saddled 12 winners after that point right up until the beginning of February. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with those figures, but when you consider that he has saddled nearly the same amount of winners (10) in the last two weeks, his runners will certainly be worthy of plenty of respect in the coming weeks. Saphir du Rheu completed a simple task at Kelso on Thursday and, though he will face a much tougher task on his next start (based on his current book of entries), he will remain of interest, especially if running in the likes of the BetBright Chase at Kempton on February 25^th. Prior to Kelso, Saphir du Rheu produced his most complete performance over fences since his novice season when finishing second in a Grade 3 handicap at Cheltenham and he should remains fairly treated from a 3 lb higher mark.

Flat trainer: Ed Walker

With nine winners from 32 runners so far in 2017 (a strike-rate of 28%), few trainers have been in better form than Ed Walker on the all-weather this winter, and he is already a third of the way towards matching his total number of winners in 2016 (27). His runners have been underestimated by the market, too, with a level-stake profit of +9.50 on all of his 2017 runners so far. He has a couple of entries at the beginning of next week, and both are worth watching out for, for different reasons. The well-bred Dark Titan looks set to have his third maiden start at Lingfield on Wednesday, and after progressing from his debut to finish third at the track last time, he is worth keeping an eye on (needs another run for a handicap mark). Everdina has had three starts in maidens herself already, and could have a good chance of getting off the mark now upped in trip to a mile and a quarter in an apprentice handicap on the same card (by Pour Moi and is a half-sister to a useful 11.4-furlong winner, so should improve for the extra two furlongs).

Under the radar: Warren Greatrex

Warren Greatrex’s stable are far from under the radar, but somewhat surprisingly this is his first appearance in this column this season. That’s not to say that he hasn’t been amongst the winners, however, as he only requires 11 more in the remaining months of the 2016/17 to better his total from last season (53), which in turn was two better than his tally in 2014/15. Greatrex’s strike-rate of 24% so far in February is slightly better than the 20% he has been operating at for the majority of this season, and he has also had a number of close seconds – including Black Thunder, who touched 1.01 in-running before being beaten a short head at Kelso on Thursday. One of his more interesting potential runners in the coming days is the unexposed mare Carnspindle, who won a bumper at Uttoxeter in December. She was held back by inexperience on her hurdling debut at Leicester last month, but is sure to improve with that under her belt and remains with potential.