15:30 Lingfield

Saturday 23 December 2017

All12:0012:3513:1013:4514:2014:5515:30

Betway Casino Handicap

Off time: 15:30 | Winning time: 2m 34.68s

(2)

Investigation^h⁸⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 9-10| J: Charlie Bennett⁽³⁾| T: S A Harris| OR: 67

66/1

Yarmouth 1m3½f maiden winner has flopped in four handicaps since and been last in his last three. Changes trainer now but hard to fancy off recent form.

Form: 319080

(11)

Bartholomew J³⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-7| J: Simon Pearce| T: Mrs L Pearce| OR: 64| CD

14/1

C&D winner in April but 18lb higher here and 10lb above last winning mark. Last two efforts quite average and still looks too high in the handicap.

Form: 262688

(6)

Malt Teaser²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-6| J: S J Drowne| T: J R Best| OR: 63

5/1

Maiden of fifteen but three times finished second on AW including latest at Kempton. 1lb higher but capable of going well again although suspect he's not the easiest of rides.

Form: 466272

(10)

Katabatika²⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 9-4| J: A Kirby| T: H Morrison| OR: 61| D

4/1

Beat Malt Teaser when winning at Kempton in October but a head behind that rival when third at the same venue latest. 1lb better off now and probably come out ahead of that rival here.

Form: 534153

(3)

Widnes^t,v¹⁷

Age: 3| Weight: 9-3| J: Josephine Gordon| T: A Bailey| OR: 60| BF

3/1

Maiden of fifteen but finished very strongly over C&D latest when sixth after getting well behind with a poor start. Only beat 2L there and with a better start he is a leading contender today.

Form: 408456

(5)

Wootyhoot¹⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: Daniel Muscutt| T: J R Fanshawe| OR: 57

13/2

Promising effort at Chelmsford in second two starts ago but struggled next twice off higher mark. Handicapper now eases the strain and is lightly raced so better is possible here.

Form: 009205

(8)

Presence Process¹³¹

Age: 3| Weight: 8-13| J: S W Kelly| T: P Phelan| OR: 56

16/1

Unplaced in seven starts for current yard. Handicap tumbling all the time and tries longer trip here but hard to be over optimistic.

Form: 40-4966

(1)

Sanches¹⁸

Age: 3| Weight: 8-7| J: Hollie Doyle| T: Dr J R J Naylor| OR: 50

66/1

Steps into handicaps for first time after three uninspiring runs in maidens, the last two at huge prices. Upped dramatically in trip here and not bred for it so hard to fancy.

Form: 896

(4)

Iley Boy^p¹⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 8-6| J: Joey Haynes| T: J Gallagher| OR: 49| D

4/1

Off the mark latest over 1m4f at Wolverhampton. Handicapper been lenient in only dishing out 2lb penalty so every chance he follows up here.

Form: 450261

(7)

Nicky Baby^p¹⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 8-5| J: Jack Osborn⁽⁷⁾| T: D K Ivory| OR: 48

33/1

Unplaced in 12 starts to date and pulled too hard when not seeming to last home upped to 1m2f latest. Further step up on that basis somewhat mystifying.

Form: 040097

(9)

Hi There Silver^v⁴⁵

Age: 3| Weight: 8-2| J: Nicola Currie⁽⁷⁾| T: M Madgwick| OR: 45

25/1

Unplaced in 17 career starts to date. Fifth latest back on the level after four woeful runs over hurdles a bit better but hard to see him bettering that here.

Form: 0-94605

Forecasts

Widnes (3/1), Iley Boy (4/1), Katabatika (4/1), Malt Teaser (5/1), Wootyhoot (13/2), Bartholomew J (14/1), Presence Process (16/1), Hi There Silver (25/1), Nicky Baby (33/1), Sanches (66/1), Investigation (66/1)

This doesn't look like it will take a great deal of winning so ILEY BOY could very easily follow up after winning comfortably enough at Wolverhampton latest. Widnes is a danger and could do much better if he starts on level terms today. Katabatika is generally a decent performer at this level and she is likely to play her part too.