15:25 Ludlow - 2m Handicap Hurdle Class 3 - Peruvien Bleu - 8/1 0.5pt each way
With the Aintree Festival just a matter of days away there’s plenty of reason to get excited with eleven Grade One races in total over the meeting! To get the week started this afternoon we have jumps action from Ludlow, Kempton and Wincanton whilst there’s an all-weather fixture from Wolverhampton under this lights this evening.
My selection today comes from down in Shropshire where I’m fancying PERUVIEN BLEU 8/1 to maintain his 100% record here at Ludlow. This six-year-old really is a course specialist as he has raced three times around this course and has won on all three. 2017 proved to be a fantastic year for this son of Fuisse as he knocked up three wins over today’s course and distance. The most recent of those came back in October when he beat the short priced favourite Banditry in a Class 4 race off a mark of 122.
Off the back of that victory he was raised a whopping 8lb to 130 before going on to contend in a listed race at Ascot, the Class 1 William Hill Handicap Hurdle. Sent off at 20/1 he was held up towards the rear and struggled to make any inroads on the leaders eventually finishing 11th 23 lengths behind the winner Elgin who has since finished 5th in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The most recent of Peruvien Bleu’s run’s came in February at Taunton where he was beaten convincingly finishing sixth of seven off a mark of 129. I’m willing to forgive him for that run and believe that a switch back to his favoured track could work wonders. He would still have to win off a career high but at the current price of 8/1 I’m going to opt for an each way bet on this Nick Williams gelding.
