17:05 Carlisle – Hernando Torres @ 8/1 (each-way)
The 17:05 at Carlisle is today’s only port of call and it’s Mick Easterby’s Hernando Torres who catches the eye. The eight year-old is a reasonable performer at this level and may just have been found a good opening by his shrewd handler.
Hernando Torres is the type of horse who runs plenty of races at this level. The kind of horse who, at eight-years old, generally gives his all and you know what you’re going to get – find him the right opportunity and he’ll usually run with plenty of credit. Well, today looks as good an opportunity as any in recent times and another decent performance is expected.
A record of two wins and four places from 11 runs at today’s trip of nine furlongs (9f) suggests that this is a good distance for the gelding, a distance that generally seems to be favoured over either 8f or 10f. Couple this with a promising third over course and distance last time out and it’s easy to see why this horse could go well today.
The race last time out certainly wasn’t any weaker than today’s contest, if anything, in terms of classier opponents, it actually looked stronger. With this in mind – given that there are question marks over plenty of the others – it is quite surprising to see this one chalked up as big as he is in the early prices.
All things considered, Hernando Torres looks to have plenty in favour today and, in what is certainly a winnable contest, he should be able to run a good race.
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