Race In Focus: Tom Collins is taking on Sporting John in the West Yorkshire Hurdle

Jumps racing returns to the spotlight (I can hear the cheers already) on Saturday as Bravemansgame and Ahoy Senor renew their rivalry in the featured Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase.

As much as that three-mile contest will dominate ITV’s domestic coverage and newspaper headlines, I have very little desire to get involved from a punting perspective and will instead admire two leading staying chasers going head-to-head for glory. Value hunters should follow suit.

Instead, it’s the preceding Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle (3.00) that catches my eye. The Philip Hobbs-trained Sporting John heads the market as he bids to make a winning seasonal reappearance for the third time in four years. However, he has had a rather checkered career and betting him at any price shorter than 2/1 seems to be a quick way to the poor house.

That’s not to say he cannot win - of course he can, he’s a former Grade 1-winning chaser whose spark returned when his connections ditched the idea of fences last season. But Sporting John has only won twice over hurdles outside of novice company and he beat a group of inferior handicappers on both occasions. Victory here would require a career-best hurdling display and his inconsistencies leave me questioning whether that will happen.

Sporting John: favourite for the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby

I would much rather consider last year’s winner and runner-up, Indefatigable and Proschema, who will head back to Wetherby to try and steal a relatively weak Grade 2 prize. 

The latter is trained by Dan Skelton, who boasts an eyecatching 31% strike-rate with hurdlers at Wetherby since the start of his career back in 2013. His general level of success at this track should force you to always consider his runners here, and you only have to go back to 2020 for his last win in this race courtesy of Roksana.

Proschema cruised through this contest last year and perhaps looked the most likely winner with three hurdles to jump, but he eventually failed to reel in the strong-staying Indefatigable and went down by two-and-three-quarter lengths. This time he’s 6lb better off at the weights.

Skelton has opted for an identical prep - a pipe-opener in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow before running here - and he’s sure to take a big step forward. But will it be enough to reverse the form? I’m not so sure.

Indefatigable might not be the flashiest of performers - she tends to take a fair bit of rousting to get into top gear - but she hit the line with plenty left in the tank in this race 12 months ago and was pulling further ahead with every stride. She hasn’t won in six subsequent starts, but this is undoubtedly her seasonal target and a recent spin on the flat around Pontefract would have blown away all the cobwebs.

Rex Dingle rode her to victory in the 2020 Martin Pipe, as well as partnering her on all three starts last spring, so I like the jockey booking. And, providing she’s in contention with two hurdles to go, I would back Indefatigable to finish faster than all of her rivals over the course and distance.

West Yorkshire Hurdle Tip

Indefatigable (3.00 Wetherby) @ 4.2