From Press Box PR

The nights are drawing in, the weather is getting a bit cooler and that can only mean one thing - the Winter Jumps season is back and is back in action at Carlisle this week. 

The track hosts an eight-race card today (Thursday) for its Jumps season opener, kicking off at 1.22pm with a handicap hurdle for conditional jockeys before coming to a close four hours later at 5.22pm with a card-closing bumper. 

Read below to discover the latest tips and preview of the Carlisle card with data and insights provided by the expert racecards available on The Horse's Mouth.

The opening contest of the day sees a field of 12 head to the start for the two mile and one furlong handicap hurdle (1.22). Knowmorediamonds for trainer Lucinda Russell could be the one to side with in race one, pitched into handicaps after some fair form in bumpers and qualifying runs in this sphere and with Russell having a 13 per cent strike rate when sending runners to class four handicap hurdles such as this. 

Race two on the card (1.57) is over the bigger obstacles at Carlisle in the handicap chase in class three over the one mile and seven furlong distance. Jockey Sean Bowen has a 19% win rate when running in class three chases and he has the mount on Western Zephyr for trainer Charlie Longsdon here, a winner of three of his six starts over hurdles and placed in handicaps over this course and distance and at Sandown last season.

Of his rivals, Dolla Collar for the aforementioned trainer Russell could give him the most to think about on chasing debut, having landed a Hexham maiden over hurdles on his penultimate start. 

A division one novices’ hurdle marks race three of the day at 2.32 and it’s not exactly the strongest contest of the day so preference can be given to Malicash, second at Kelso in February and was then thrown into a grade two at Aintree at odds of 125/1 and ran about as well as expected. Now with trainer Donald McCain, who has an 18 per cent hit rate at Carlisle, he’s one of the more interesting runners in this 11-runner race.

Division two of the same discipline is race four on the card (3.07) and La Marquise looks the one to beat, a dual-bumper winner that ended his last campaign with a very good third in the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree’s Grand National meeting in April for trainer Jamie Snowden, who has a very healthy 28% strike rate when sending runners to Carlisle - which he has only done 18 times in his training career. 

Trainer Dan Skelton, runner up in the UK Jumps Trainers Championship last season, has a strong hand in race five (3.42) with Snipe, well down the field when last seen in the Grand National Trial Handicap in February but prior to that was in fine fettle with a win and two seconds in his three prior runs so is taken to get back to winning ways at Carlisle. 

Trainer Martin Todhunter has only sent 70 runners to Carlisle and he has a 26 per cent success rate when he does so it could be worth siding with his five-year-old V Twelve in the class four handicap hurdle at 4.15 on Thursday, a scorer over hurdles at Wetherby in March and a good third of ten on the Flat at Hamilton 25 days ago. 

A field of seven are set to take on the handicap chase in class four over the one mile and seven furlong trip for the penultimate race of the day (4.50) and Mint Gold for Lucinda Russell is taken to break a run of two consecutive second place finishes and go one better here, while the finale (5.22) can go the way of Jet to Vegas, a tentative selection for trainer trainer Russell who could close the card with a quickfire double off the back of winning his sole Irish point outing in May. 

Selections

1.22 - Knowmorediamonds

1.57 - Western Zephyr

2.32 - Malicash

3.07 - La Marquise

3.42 - Snipe

4.15 - V Power

4.50 - Mint gold

5.22 - Jet To Vegas