13:45 Wolverhampton

Tuesday 26 December 2017

All12:0512:4013:1013:4514:1514:5015:2516:00

Betway Handicap

Off time: 13:45 | Winning time: 2m 1.24s

(2)

Born To Be Alive⁹⁰

Age: 3| Weight: 9-8| J: C Lee⁽³⁾| T: K R Burke| OR: 104| BF

6/1

Easily won an Ayr maiden (1m, good) before finishing second on his handicap bow and a French Listed event (1m1f, good) before a lesser effort in that sphere at Goodwood (1m2f). Respected on AW bow after a three month break.

Form: 21223

(5)

Kyllachy Gala¹⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-4| J: K Shoemark| T: M Botti| OR: 98

5/1

Three time winner on the AW in Italy and starting to come good for present yard, finishing a close-up fourth here before going down by a short-head to Emenem over 1m2f at Lingfield. Every chance of reversing that form on 1lb better terms.

Form: 036842

(8)

Mythical Madness^v¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-2| J: Fran Berry| T: D O'Meara| OR: 96| CD

8/1

Goes well here and had done enough to be sent off favourite for this race 12 months ago only to disappoint. Consistent without winning too often since and most recent efforts suggest the handicapper just has his measure.

Form: 009065

(3)

Battle Of Marathon²⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: Jack Osborn⁽⁷⁾| T: J Ryan| OR: 95| CD

3/1

First success came over 6f as a two-year-old when with Aidan O'Brien and then went 22 starts without a win until beating Emenem by 1¼L over C&D earlier this month. Every chance of confirming that form on the same terms.

Form: 405031

(7)

Mount Tahan²⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 8-13| J: Shane Gray| T: K A Ryan| OR: 93

11/2

Consistent handicapper but hasn't managed a win since scoring at Beverley 16 months ago. That said, he hinted his time was near when finishing second over C&D last month, beating home a number of today's rivals. Respected.

Form: 204P02

(6)

Grand Inquisitor^p³¹

Age: 5| Weight: 8-12| J: Josephine Gordon| T: Ian Williams| OR: 92

12/1

Solid turf handicapper who took full advantage of a falling mark when winning readily at York (1m2f, good) in October. Unconvincing in two runs over hurdles since and returns to the Flat in search of a first AW win.

Form: 933441

(1)

Bronze Angel^b¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 8-12| J: M Dwyer| T: M P Tregoning| OR: 92| D

16/1

Prolific winner in his younger days and, though not quite the force of old, has shown up well against a number of today's rivals of late, most recently when third behind Emenem and Kyllachy Gala at Lingfield.

Form: 837303

(4)

Emenem¹⁴

Age: 3| Weight: 8-11| J: L Morris| T: S Dow| OR: 93| CD

7/2

Good strike-rate on the AW (4 wins from 10) and, though beaten by Battle of Marathon over C&D, he bounced back to produce a career-best to edge out Kyllachy Gala at Lingfield. Looks sure to be in the mix. Yard won this last year.

Form: 383321

Forecasts

Battle Of Marathon (3/1), Emenem (7/2), Kyllachy Gala (5/1), Mount Tahan (11/2), Born To Be Alive (6/1), Mythical Madness (8/1), Grand Inquisitor (12/1), Bronze Angel (16/1)

Plenty of entwined recent form on offer here and a strong case could made out for Mount Tahan on the strength of his second-place effort over C&D last time considering he had Battle of Marathon (third), KYLLACHY GALA (fourth), Mythical Madness (sixth) and Bronze Angel (10th) in arrears. Strictly speaking, he holds all of them at the readjusted weights, though, KYLLACHY GALA didn't get the clearest of runs that day is taken to reverse form with Emenem on 1lb better terms after a titanic subsequent tussle between the pair at Lingfield.