14:10 Stratford

Sunday 16 July 2017

All14:1014:4015:1515:5016:2016:5517:3018:00

Coventry Telegraph & Birmingham Mail Juvenile Hurdle

Off time: 14:10 | Winning time: 3m 58.7s

Bab El Mandeb

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell

16/1

£21,000 purchase earlier this year, this unraced gelding is by the Breeders' Cup Classic winner Blame, and is a half-brother to Flat winner in Slovakia. Interesting pedigree. Racecourse debut here.

Form:

Kenyan^t⁴³

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: C O'Farrell| T: S Durack

25/1

Very modest form on the Flat, failing to place in four starts to date. Hurdles would need to bring about a deal of improvement and others make more appeal.

Form:

Mauricio³⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: Dr R D P Newland

2/1

Landed maiden claimer at Roscommon last month and subsequently joined new connections. Has claims on his Flat form and trainer enjoying a purple patch, so looks one of the more likely contenders.

Form:

Phoenix Dawn^p²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Brendan Powell| T: B G Powell

9/1

Won mile nursery handicap on soft ground last October and has gone close a couple of times on the level this term. Stays 10f on the Flat so should stay and has to have good claims if he can jump.

Form:

Piccoloro⁷³

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Harry Bannister| T: J G Portman

66/1

Beaten only one horse in three outings on the Flat and pedigree raises questions about his ability to stay this trip. Very hard to enthuse over on evidence to date.

Form:

Taxmeifyoucan¹⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Finian O'Toole⁽⁵⁾| T: K Dalgleish

5/1

Landed 12f Southwell handicap in April so no stamina doubts on hurdles bow. Below par in last three runs on turf but could be the right sort for jumping, and connections always respected at this level.

Form:

The Raven Master⁶¹

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton

9/4

One paced Raven's Pass gelding, a 5-race maiden for Michael Bell who has joined top jumps yard. Sure to have been well schooled and rates a leading contender given connections current 36% strike rate.

Form:

Yorkshire Star²⁶⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: James Banks| T: W G M Turner

66/1

Sprint bred gelding who failed to score in six outing for connections on the Flat. Makes little appeal on paper on his hurdles debut but any market interest would be significant.

Form:

Lucky Esteem³²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 10-5| J: Aidan Coleman| T: N P Mulholland

5/1

Showed promise as a juvenile for Mark Johnston but not seen since last August and makes debut in this sphere and for new yard. Dam was a winning hurdler so should stay and could prove dangerous if fit after long absence.

Form:

Forecasts

Mauricio (2/1), The Raven Master (9/4), Taxmeifyoucan (5/1), Lucky Esteem (5/1), Phoenix Dawn (9/1), Bab El Mandeb (16/1), Kenyan (25/1), Yorkshire Star (66/1), Piccoloro (66/1)

With his yard in blinding form at the moment, ex-Irish MAURICIO is selected to make a winning hurdles debut. He scored nicely over 10f on the Flat last time and assuming he has settled into his new surroundings should run a good race. The Raven Master is one of a number of dangers given his top connections, a comment that also applies to Phoenix Dawn, Taxmeifyoucan, and the lightly raced filly, Lucky Esteem, who has the scope to succeed in this sphere.

Coventry Telegraph & Birmingham Mail Juvenile Hurdle

Forecasts

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Coventry Telegraph & Birmingham Mail Juvenile Hurdle

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