Sam Twiston-Davies’ William Hill Blog: Hopeful about Opec’s chances in the Adonis

William Hill ambassador Sam Twiston-Davies previews his rides on Saturday at Kempton.

First and foremost, it’s an incredibly difficult time for everyone following the recent news about Michael O’Sullivan. Our thoughts are with his family and close friends. Now more than ever, we must come together to honour and remember a truly great man.

Looking over the past week, Un Sens A La Vie won well at Market Rasen. He was quite expensive as a £180,000 purchase and had been showing up well at home, so we were all very pleased. Obviously, he won well, and he now has the option of waiting for Aintree or possibly going for a smaller race with a penalty. We’ll let the horse tell us in a bit of time.

James Owen has said this week that a decision is still to be made on whether Burdett Road goes to the Champion Hurdle or William Hill County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. I’m massively happy to be on the team. Alex Chadwick knows the horse incredibly well—he rides him every day—so if he were to run in the County, you’d know Alex would take weight off and probably knows him better than anyone. That would obviously be a good partnership, and I can see them going really well. The one downside over the weekend is that, sadly, the ground just went against him.

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Saturday, Kempton

I kick things off with Opec (2.25pm) in the Adonis at Kempton on Saturday—a race in which neither of Nicky Henderson’s two, Palladium and Lulamba, have been declared. It is still a competitive race on paper, with Mondo Man most likely at the top of the market. He obviously looked very strong at Ascot, but Opec has had a bit of a break, which is a positive. I would be inclined to just put a line through her Chepstow run last time.

She wasn’t quite herself that day, as she normally sets off with quite a bit of zest, and for whatever reason, she didn’t have that last time. You know she’s going to give her very best, and when she enjoys it, she really enjoys it. I know James (Owen) is hopeful about her chances.

I then have Guard Your Dreams (3.35pm) in the Ladbrokes Trophy, which is a very valuable prize. It’ll be his first time trying three miles, but it’s a nice race to do it in. So, obviously, we’ll learn a good bit more, but at the same time, I’ll be happy to give it a go.

He was quiet last time out at Cheltenham and wasn’t his usual buzzy self that day. It’s always very hard to know at home, he seemed very well, and then we got to the races, and he just wasn’t at the races. You see it time and time again. For example, the Skeltons said the same thing with Grey Dawning recently, and it does happen. Until you actually get them back on the track, it’s very hard to know.

It’s worth more than any of the Cheltenham Festival handicaps, so it’s well worth having a good go at.

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