Katchit - 11/2 value.

By Ben Linfoot

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BETTING BOX
FIXED ODDS
	1pt win Katchit in 14.35 Ascot at 11/2 (general).	On these terms the former champion has every chance over a trip that should suit.

The Grade 2 Coral Ascot Hurdle sees a couple of last year's top novices' take on a select band of the experienced old guard and it's former Champion Hurdle hero Katchit who appeals at the prices.

He has to take on improving stablemate Karabak as well as the unbeaten Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar, but other than those two threats are thin on the ground and he actually gets weight from the second-season novices'.

Both Zaynar and Karabak have half a stone to find on ratings with Katchit, yet the first-named has to concede 4lbs to Alan King's horse while Karabak carries 2lbs more.

6/4 favourite Zaynar simply has to be taken on, while it's hard to see how Karabak can be a shorter price than his stablemate on all known form.

Potential is one thing, and the two market leaders have certainly got it, but they still have to prove themselves at Katchit's level. They are priced up as if they have already done so.

King reckons Katchit needs a trip these days and his staying on sixth in last year's Champion Hurdle suggests he's right. His Aintree flop over the distance came at the end of a hard season so I'm happy to put a line through that.

231 days have passed since then, Katchit's last appearance on a racecourse at Liverpool, and I'm convinced he will go well fresh despite some observers insistent he will come on for the run.

He's won on his seasonal reappearance as a hurdler three times and finished runner-up first time out last season, while his best performance last term came at the Cheltenham Festival after he had been freshened up (almost three months off the track).

The one concern is he was well beaten on his only visit to Ascot, but that was against a red-hot Binocular and after a tough race at Wincanton, which King admits left a mark on Katchit for the rest of the season.

It's hard to see anything other than the top three getting involved as Lough Derg has a poor record in this race despite his love for the track, while Elusive Dream looked poor on his reappearance and probably needs further these days.

The others look out of their depth so we'll happily snap up the 11/2 about proven superstar Katchit on these terms.