I'm having a bet on Thedevilscoachman in Punchestowns 2.05 tomorrow.
It feels like he's been around for ages, but he's still only an 8 year old, though that won't last long with 2025 fast approaching.
That said, he's only had 9 hurdle starts, winning four of them. His record first time out, or after a break, reads 11311173, which isn't too bad at all.
Yes, most of his form is on soft or heavy, but I don't know if that's by design, or just by the fact, he's just not had the chance to run on this going before. He's not up to Cheltenham Festival class anyway, and I reckon he's swerved that due to not being good enough, rather than the likely better ground he'd face in March.
I've looked for clues in the breeding. His sire Elusive Pimpernal showed his best form on the flat on good to firm, and his grandsire Selkirk had form on the flat on decent going aswell.
So I'll chance The Devil at the price he is. I emphasise, I'm not trying to be a clever dick saying he might act on yielding, when all his form is on soft, but you can see where I'm coming from, in that he's'hardly ever raced or had the chance to prove he can handle better ground. If he had no chance you'd hope Noel Meade would pull him out and save me the conundrum.
As per usual, I reserve the right to talk absolute shite, but I'll take my chance anyway.
