17:05 Galway

Tuesday 10 October 2017

All14:2515:0015:3016:0016:3517:0517:35

Guinness Handicap Chase

Off time: 17:05 | Winning time: 4m 54.7s

Pumbaa¹³

Age: 9| Weight: 11-10| J: Mr R P Quinlan⁽³⁾| T: A Slattery| OR: 129

10/1

Won last time out having not beat a rival home on previous four starts (pulled up three times). Well backed that day which was as incredible as his turnaround in form. Manor of success suggested 6lb penalty far from harsh so not dismissed.

Form: 2PPP-51

Tesseract⁴⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-6| J: B J Geraghty| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 125| C

7/2

Dual hurdle winner and already scored here over fences over 2m6f. Handicap debut today and not impossible off this mark but enthusiasm dampened by poor run at Killarney when last seen.

Form: 11-F216

Presenting Mahler²

Age: 7| Weight: 10-13| J: Danny Mullins| T: J P Ryan| OR: 118| BF

9/1

Both chase wins come in heavy ground, latest at Listowel in September. Disappointed subsequently up 6lb despite favoured bottomless ground at Sligo and current mark looks high enough.

Form: 225154

Black Zero^b³⁰

Age: 9| Weight: 10-12| J: M A Enright| T: M J McDonagh| OR: 117| D

14/1

Had a really good spell at the start of the year but well beaten in last three starts and stopped quickly last time when beaten 38L at Listowel. Questions to answer now.

Form: 2120-66

Coeur Joyeux^h,t¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: L P Dempsey| T: J P Dempsey| OR: 116

4/1

Off the mark at 18th time of asking last time in a woeful contest at Sligo. Fairly bolted up to be fair to him and he has been placed 12 times so with confidence likely boosted a big run entirely possible.

Form: 752631

Rocky Court^t⁴⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 10-11| J: R T Dunne| T: S J Mahon| OR: 116

10/1

Ran well enough when third at Killarney last time out on good ground. Set some stern tests before that but not badly handicapped now back at more realistic level.

Form: P-16363

Ontopoftheworld²⁰⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 10-9| J: Donagh Meyler| T: A L T Moore| OR: 114| BF

10/1

Made slow start to chasing career but ran three straight solid races at Navan early in the year. Potential for further progress this year but this first run of the season and trainer not had a chase winner yet.

Form: 666212-

Show And Go²⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-9| J: Phillip Enright| T: H De Bromhead| OR: 114| D

9/1

Tried over a variety of distances but best form generally at under 2m4f. Not disgraced when third at Listowel last time out in heavy ground but prefers sound surface. Eased again but not obviously well handicapped.

Form: 330-603

Aspen Colorado^t²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-8| J: Mark Walsh| T: J P O'Brien| OR: 113

20/1

Smart bumper form a distant memory now and beaten over 20L in all five chase starts. 55L fifth at Listowel latest one of many reasons he can't be realistically considered.

Form: 3-56905

Bosman Rule^p²⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 10-7| J: Ruby Walsh| T: W P Mullins| OR: 112

5/1

135 rated hurdler effective from 2m to 3m. Well below that level over fences so far but thrown in compared to hurdle mark on handicap debut. Not looked a poor jumper so far so no reason he can't at least be competitive.

Form: 17/9-764

Cnoc Na Sioga⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 9-10| J: C A Landers⁽⁷⁾| T: J P Ryan| OR: 96

25/1

Over two years since this veteran won and impossible to fancy from 5lb out of the handicap.

Form: 608465

Non-Runners

Benemeade¹⁷

Weight: 10-13| Age: 9

T: N Meade J: Sean Flanagan

Tisamystery⁴⁷

Weight: 10-8| Age: 9

T: H De Bromhead J: J J Slevin

Forecasts

Tesseract (7/2), Coeur Joyeux (4/1), Bosman Rule (5/1), Tisamystery (7/1), Presenting Mahler (9/1), Show And Go (9/1), Rocky Court (10/1), Pumbaa (10/1), Ontopoftheworld (10/1), Black Zero (14/1), Benemeade (16/1), Aspen Colorado (20/1), Cnoc Na Sioga (25/1)

COEUR JOYEUX finally got off the mark last time out and won quite impressively too. He is still only six so perhaps this season will be the one where he makes progress and he could be capable of a further step up to win this. Ontopoftheworld was going the right way when last seen and should continue that upward curve this season. Bosman Rule has shown precious little over fences but his hurdles form leaps off the page and on his handicap debut it would be no surprise if he improves.