Grands Crus at Kempton today

Monday is usually a very poor day but today Kempton stages quite a nice N.H. card and the highlight of the day is the return of the high class Grands Crus (David Poipe/ Tom Scudamore) to actipon. He runs in the handicap hurdle over 2 miles 5 furlongs at 15.40 CET and has too give 16 lbs or more to his 5 opponents. They are no pushovers either: the Crafty Butcher (Michael Hourigan/ Barry Geraghty) comes over to Ireland having won his last 2 races in good style, while Seventh Sign (Alan King/ Wayne Hutchinson) was a smart juvenile last season and God´s Own (Tom George/ Paddy Brennan) was badly hampered last time and would probably have won. However none of them can match Grands Crus´ achievements, as he twice gave the great Big Bucks a race and was third over fences in the King George here last year. Presumably he will be back chasing before long, but we think that he can defy his big weight and win today. Nicky Henderson has no runners in that race, but he is the leading trainer at Kempton and can score today with Captain Cutter (Tony McCoy - win no. 3995?) at 14.35 and Hadrian´s Approach (Barry Geraghty) at 16.10. This is another small field and the distance may be on the short side, but we expect him to outclass these opponents.
The other two U.K. meetings, over jumps at Plumpton and on the all-weather at Wolverhampton, are very low grade and are probably best left alone, especially as the going will be very testing at Plumpton which will make winners even harder to find.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Volnay De Thaix - Seedling - Devon Drum
2. Race: Reverb - Mr Grey - Ifits A Fiddle
3. Race: Midnight Oscar - Present View - Super Villan
4. Race: Grands Crus - Seventh Sign - The Crafty Butcher
5. Race: Hadrian`s Approach - Theatre Guide - Bury Parade
6. Race: Foundation Man - Upton Mead - Synthe Davis
7. Race: Uriah Heep - Sash Of Honour - Bollin Judith