IT’S that time of year when the seasons converge. We’ve been through those weeks, during which the jumps have been bubbling away just under the surface under the last throes of the flat, with the odd occasion on which it has burst through. It’s about to change now though, Arc day over, Champions’ Day over, the first shoots of Cheltenham yesterday, Galway today, Aintree tomorrow, and horses to follow all over the place.

Of course, the champions of the flat still have to be crowned, and it looks like that apprentices’ title is going to go all the way down the stretch, and there is the Breeders’ Cup late in the night and the Melbourne Cup early in the morning. And there is the Group 1 William Hill Futurity Trophy at Doncaster today.

Earlier on the day though at Doncaster, the five-furlong handicap has a more palatable look to it from a betting perspective. Vintage Clarets is charting a similar path to the race that he has charted for the last two years. In 2022, he finished second in the Catterick Dash on his last run before today’s race, and he finished down the field behind Fast Response at Doncaster.

Last year, he won the Catterick Dash off a mark of 94, then finished a good third in the Doncaster race off a 3lb higher mark. This year, he won the Catterick Dash off a mark of 93, and he races today off a mark of 97.

He has a big chance today too, but he is going to have to step forward again from his Catterick run. He has never won off a mark higher than 94 and, while he did run well in this race last year, his best runs have been at Chester and Catterick, both turning left-handed tracks.

Course specialist

Aberama Gold is different, in that he seems to reserve his best for Doncaster. For some reason, he has disappointed on the two occasions on which he has run in the Portland Handicap, both runs on different types of ground. But, outside of those two runs in the Portland, he has run at Doncaster six times, and he has won twice, finished second three times and finished third once. And his two wins were on soft and heavy ground.

He was only third behind Vintage Clarets in the Catterick Dash last time, but he is 3lb better off with Richard Fahey’s horse today and, more importantly, he didn’t have an ideal run through the race. He was back in the field early on and he had to try to make his ground well away from the favoured stands rail. And he had never run at Catterick before. He should be happier today back at Doncaster.

Also, significantly, David O’Meara’s horse was well-beaten in the Coral Sprint Trophy at York last year on his last run before he went to Doncaster and won this race. He is looking potentially well-handicapped these days. A 1lb hike for his Catterick run takes him up to a mark of 85, 11lb lower than the mark off which he won this race last year.

Blue Storm stuck his neck out willingly to just get home in a competitive handicap at Haydock last time. He is a young sprinter who continues to progress, and Aberama Gold has almost two lengths to find with him on that Haydock run. But Blue Storm is up to a mark of 104 now, and his very high draw may not be ideal. Jer Batt and Venture Capital are both players, but Aberama Gold goes into the race in good form and, at a track at which he excels, he could be handicapped to repeat last year’s feat.

Cheltenham

Guard Your Dreams sets a good standard in the novices’ handicap chase that opens proceedings at Cheltenham. A 147-rated hurdler at his peak, and winner of the Grade 2 International Hurdle in 2021, Nigel Twiston-Davies’ horse got off the mark on his first attempt over fences at Warwick three weeks ago, when he just came out the right side of a head-bob with Roccovango. But he has been put in short enough, and it may pay to take a chance on his former stable companion Weveallbeencaught.

A 139-rated hurdler at his peak and seventh in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle in 2023, the Getaway gelding made a really promising start to his chasing career last season, finishing third behind Flooring Porter and his then stable companion Broadway Boy at this meeting last year. There wasn’t much between him and Broadway Boy in the betting, when they met again at the November meeting. In the end, he was no match for his stable companion, but he still kept on well enough to take second place behind him, in front of Good Risk At All.

He lost his way a little after that last season, but he put up a nicely encouraging performance on his debut this season at Warwick, his first run for Christian Williams.

Prominent from early that day, he came under a ride at the top of the home straight, but he stuck to his task well to take third place behind Hometown Boy and Coco Mademoiselle, in a race from which the fourth horse came out and won at Sedgefield last Friday.

Weveallbeencaught should come on for that run, his first run since April and his first for his new trainer. He goes well at Cheltenham, he won his maiden hurdle there and he ran that big race at this meeting last year on his chasing bow, and it is interesting that Christian Williams is fitting cheekpieces today for the first time. He is down to a mark of 128 now, 11lb lower than his peak over hurdles and 7lb lower than he was over fences at this time last year, and that is a mark that could under-estimate his ability now.

Weveallbeencaught, 1.30 Cheltenham, 1pt win, 9/1 (generally)

Aberama Gold, 2.05 Doncaster, 1pt each-way, 7/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral, Bet365) or 6/1 (generally)