13:00 Musselburgh

Wednesday 3 January 2018

All13:0013:3014:0014:3015:0015:30

Wise Betting At racinguk.com Maiden Hurdle

Off time: 13:00 | Winning time: 3m 55.1s

Arizona Bound¹⁰⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: Callum Bewley⁽³⁾| T: J S Goldie| D

25/1

Wide margin bumper winner for Gordon Elliott in the summer, but never on terms on hurdles debut at Kelso (2m5f, good) in September. Dropped in trip for this second go after a break and needs plenty of improvement on that first attempt.

Form: 5P-2218

Bergholt²⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Miss Jodie Hughes⁽⁷⁾| T: Tim Vaughan

22/1

17-race maiden under both codes. Finished in the money for just the second time at Kempton (1m3f, AW) in October. Best Flat turf efforts have been on a sound/fast surface. 200-1 and never in it on recent hurdles debut. Needs plenty of improvement.

Form: 9

Character Onesie³⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr

11/2

Triple Flat winner at up to 1m1f on good/fast ground (rated 68), though handles good to soft. Showed promise on Bangor hurdles debut in November, though fell when looking held at Sedgefield last time. Stable in form and he is capable of improvement.

Form: 5F

Chookie Royale³⁶

Age: 10| Weight: 11-5| J: Craig Nichol| T: K Dalgleish| C

17/2

Prolific winner mainly over sprint trips, though also up to 1m1½f on the Flat/AW (rated 87/103 respectively). Ran well for a long way at Sedgefield on belated hurdles debut, though tired on run-in. Flatter track should help. Claims.

Form: 3

Emell²⁰

Age: 8| Weight: 11-5| J: Alan Johns| T: Tim Vaughan

14/1

Has won just two of his 51 starts under both codes, the more recent in April 2015 and over 7f. 150-1 and raced keenly on hurdles debut at Taunton (2m½f, soft) last month, but did his best work at finish there and improvement not ruled out.

Form: 8

Kelpies Myth⁵⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Blair Campbell⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| CD

7/2

Scored here in a bumper (good) in March and the two that chased him home have both won over hurdles in recent months. This gelding has been well held in both hurdles so far but could be competitive in this field.

Form: 3201-63

Outback Blue^t³⁶

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Jonathon Bewley⁽³⁾| T: G Bewley

150/1

Has won over 7f/1m on AW/Flat, where he is rated 63. 80-1 and always towards the rear when beaten 47L in same Sedgefield race as Chookie Royale/Character Onesie on hurdles debut and up against it on that evidence.

Form: 0

Silver Bullion^h1³²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-5| J: Henry Brooke| T: Miss P Robson| D

11/1

Landed an Ayr bumper (soft) on debut 13-months ago and ran well on seasonal return/hurdles debut at Kelso (2m, good) in October. Disappointed at Newcastle last time (soft) but if hood works then he has the ability to go close here.

Form: 18-5P

The Road Home^t³⁵

Age: 6| Weight: 11-5| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell

8/1

Ran with promise on rules debut in a Cheltenham bumper in October (good), though made quiet hurdles debut at Wetherby in November (2m, soft). Looks in need of a stiffer test, but stable's pick on jockey bookings so market check suggested.

Form: 7P-F158

Weather Front⁶⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-5| J: Dale Irving⁽³⁾| T: Karen McLintock

66/1

Sole success from 16 Flat runs was in a Redcar handicap (1m, good to soft) in 2016. Is a stone lower in that code now after losing form and tries hurdles for first time here. Pedigree suggests stamina should hold up but probably best watched.

Form:

Heartasia^h,t³⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: James Corbett⁽⁵⁾| T: S Corbett| D

11/4

Improved to win both his third and fourth bumper starts last spring and made a pleasing reappearance/hurdles debut here over C&D (good) in November. Stable enjoying a good season and no surprise if this mare produced another win for them.

Form: 541-13

Forecasts

Heartasia (11/4), Kelpies Myth (7/2), Character Onesie (11/2), The Road Home (8/1), Chookie Royale (17/2), Silver Bullion (11/1), Emell (14/1), Bergholt (22/1), Arizona Bound (25/1), Weather Front (66/1), Outback Blue (150/1)

Character Onesie put up a decent effort on his hurdling debut and if he is over his fall last time out then he could again have a say in this, while Chookie Royale is very much the class horse based on his Flat/AW form, though there are some stamina doubts where he is concerned, which were underlined when he did not quite appear to get home at Sedgefield on his belated hurdles debut. Kelpies Myth's bumper win here has worked out well enough, though stable jockey Derek Fox is on potential improver The Road Home, so check out the market for further clues there. Silver Bullion is short-listed and can put his last effort behind him on this better ground, but trainer Susan Corbett is enjoying a fine season with a relatively small string and her dual bumper winner HEARTASIA is taken to build on the promise of her hurdles debut over C&D and make the most of her mares' allowance.