HENRY DALY'S master plan to prepare Hand Inn Hand (3.00) specifically for the prestigious Peterborough Chase looks all set to come to fruition in the £80,000 feature event at Huntingdon, writes Colin Woods.

There's nothing like a racecourse gallop to get a horse 100 per cent ready for the big occasion, and Daly did just that by sending Hand Inn Hand to take part in the two-mile Elite Hurdle at Wincanton a fortnight ago.

Hand Inn Hand didn't have a prayer in that race, which was run over a trip way short of his optimum, but the gelding showed up prominently until the three-quarter point of the contest, when lack of peak fitness ultimately put paid to his prospects.

Now back over his favoured fences, plus moving up five furlongs, the classy eight-year-old promises to be a totally different proposition with regular rider Mark Bradburne replacing Andrew Thornton, who was in the saddle on the selection's seasonal reappearance.

"He's schooled really well and there's no reason why he can't improve again," reported Daly on Hand Inn Hand, the horse which helped put Henry on the training map with a magnificent victory in the Grade 1 Servo Computer Handicap Chase at Ascot in January of this year.

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