13:40 Chepstow

Sunday 15 October 2017

All13:4014:1514:5015:2516:0016:3517:1017:40

Champion Hats Juvenile Hurdle

Off time: 13:40 | Winning time: 4m 4.2s

Gumball¹³

Age: 3| Weight: 11-5| J: R Johnson| T: P Hobbs & J White| D

4/6

Dam a 7f winner in France but showed he's inherited plenty of stamina too when winning impressively on British debut at Stratford at the start of the month. Penalty for that win shouldn't be too much of an issue if taking this course in his stride.

Form: 3-1

Malaya¹⁴²

Age: 3| Weight: 11-5| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: P F Nicholls

9/4

Yard won 5 of the last 10 renewals and this stoutly-bred filly looks a similar type to a number of her predecessors; she won a Listed race at Auteuil when last seen over hurdles in May (has won 2 of her three starts over timber). Leading contender.

Form: 12-1

Crindle Carr¹⁵⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: R Flint| T: J L Flint

200/1

Signs of ability over 1m on the Flat but still a maiden after five attempts at getting off the mark. Breeding makes limited appeal for the switch in codes.

Form:

Harbour Force⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: N D Fehily| T: N P Mulholland

150/1

Ran out at the second hurdle on Jumping debut at Ludlow earlier in the week and obviously has a bit to learn. Form on the Flat just ordinary and has a lot to prove now.

Form: R

Marettimo⁹⁰

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

150/1

Form on the Flat for Charlie Appleby was only modest and makes limited appeal on debut for new stable.

Form:

Speedo Boy³⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: T J O'Brien| T: Ian Williams

5/1

Rated 100 at his best on the Flat, this Ex-French gelding is an interesting recruit to the winter game. Stamina will be tested further than ever before but yard can get one ready, so worth a check in the betting.

Form:

Zillion¹⁷⁹

Age: 3| Weight: 10-12| J: Lucy Gardner⁽³⁾| T: Mrs S Gardner

66/1

Two starts for John Gosden produced very little - hence his price dropped from 34,000 gns as a two-year-old to £6,500 at the Ascot sales in July. Plenty to prove now switching codes.

Form:

Non-Runners

Kozier⁹

Weight: 10-12| Age: 3

T: A King J: Wayne Hutchinson

Forecasts

Gumball (4/6), Malaya (9/4), Speedo Boy (5/1), Kozier (10/1), Zillion (66/1), Harbour Force (150/1), Marettimo (150/1), Crindle Carr (200/1)

There was an awful lot to like about the manner in which Gumball went about the task of blitzing his field on his British debut at the start of this month. Likely to be plenty more to come on that evidence, the gelding is certainly going the right way and can be expected to be involved in the thick the action. However, Paul Nicholls has traditionally targeted this race over the last decade and looks to have another highly interesting contender on his hands in the shape of MALAYA, who won a Listed race at Auteil when last seen out and will be very hard to master if taking a further step forward. Kozier won over 2m here on the Flat and could feasibly need a sterner test over hurdles, so it's very possible that Speedo Boy, a decent performer on the level, could be the best of the rest this time.