13:25 Doncaster
Tuesday 9 January 2018
All11:5512:2512:5513:2514:0014:3515:1015:40
Sky Bet Fast Withdrawal Novices' Hurdle
- 4YO plus | Class 4 | 2m 128y | Soft (Good to Soft in places) | 16 Runners | Turf | Weighed In
- Off time: 13:25 | Winning time: 4m 7.02s
Cloth number
Odds
Horse A-Z
Show odds
Comes into his first novices' contest with an unblemished record and looked potentially very smart when destroying his maiden field at Sedgefield (good to soft) last time. Won a bumper here and should give a good account under his penalty.
Decent bumper performer last season despite not winning and therefore slight disappointment when beaten 7½L into third at Southwell (2m½f, good to soft) when favourite for hurdle debut. Stable in form and better effort anticipated on reappearance.
Has hinted at ability in all three starts, the last two in novices'/maiden hurdle company on soft ground at Wincanton/Southwell. Will need a fair bit more to be breaking his duck today and likely to be of more interest when handicapping.
Made a pleasing debut in a Bangor bumper in October, though never really got into it on hurdles debut at Market Rasen (2m2½f, good to soft). Drops in trip here and pedigree suggests that should be fine, though probably one to watch.
Sent off odds-on favourite for his debut in a maiden bumper at Huntingdon (1m5½f) in November and ran out a comfortable 2L winner. Pedigree suggests that he could be effective at up to 2m4f over hurdles, so this a good starting point. Interesting.
Made the frame in a couple of bumpers, but beaten 77L on hurdles debut at Sedgefield (2m1f, good to soft) in November. Will need a lot of improvement to figure and looks one to take a watching brief over.
Handles soft ground on the Flat, where both his wins have been over 1m2f, though he sees out 1m4f. Ran well on hurdles debut in very testing ground at Haydock when finding one too good and looks set to be a leading player here.
Made the frame on sole start for William Haggas (1m½f, AW) in 2016, but has not made it back to the racecourse since. Sufficient stamina in pedigree to suggest that he will get this trip, but probably one to watch on hurdles debut.
Won a Warwick bumper on debut and put a disappointing hurdles debut behind him when 9L second to the useful Fin And Game at Wetherby in November. That horse has won again since and with improvement likely, this one looks a leading player.
Put up a decent effort in a Ffos Las bumper last season, but has failed to get to that level since and yet to complete over hurdles. Impossible to recommend until we have seen more from him.
Rated 83 on the Flat, where his record is 1-15. Seems to go on any ground and stays 2m, so arguably he will want further over hurdles. However, this is a good starting point and he certainly merits a market check on debut in this sphere.
Showed a bit of ability in bumpers, but well beaten on hurdles debut at Leicester (2m4½f, soft) last month. Giving the impression that he is more of a future handicap project than one for today.
Well beaten on debut in a Newbury bumper but looks likely to do better over hurdles. Heavy ground at Chepstow wouldn't have been ideal when he was pulled up on debut over timber and drop in trip not an obvious route to success. One to watch.
Made frame on debut in a Bangor bumper in 2016 but off 21-months before returning for hurdles debut in a Leicester seller last month. Jumped poorly there and eventually pulled up and she needs to put that behind her today.
Shaped with a bit of promise on her debut at Worcester in October (2m, good), but was well beaten in two starts last month. Plenty to prove on that evidence and another one for whom handicapping looks the more obvious route.
Third representative for his stable in this and another who showed more in her bumper than on her hurdles debut. Nonetheless, soft ground might be a plus here and she can show some improvement this time.
Forecasts
Ravenhill Road (5/6), French Crusader (11/4), Not That Fuisse (17/2), Niblawi (9/1), And The New (14/1), Django Django (40/1), Euxton Lane (40/1), Paris Protocol (50/1), The Last Of Them (66/1), Nobel Duke (66/1), Sliding Doors (100/1), Your Wan (100/1), Oologist (200/1), Phoenix Rock (200/1), Naasik (200/1), More Than Two (200/1)
On paper it doesn't look like there will be too many getting into this on the run for home and while Not That Fuisse is an obvious danger and certainly feared in receipt of weight, RAVENHILL ROAD made a very good impression when sluicing up at Sedgefield and he appears likely to be very tough to topple under his penalty. Niblawi has the look of short-list material after a good first effort, while French Crusader is likely to be very competitive and Paris Protocol is also of interest.
- Ravenhill Road
- Not That Fuisse
- French Crusader
Prize Money
1st: £4,094.002nd: £1,202.003rd: £601.004th: £301.00
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