14:30 Huntingdon

Friday 12 January 2018

All13:3014:0014:3015:0015:3016:00

Smarkets Handicap Chase

Off time: 14:30 | Winning time: 6m 31.6s

Fly Home Harry^p,t⁵³

Age: 9| Weight: 12-2| J: Paul O'Brien⁽⁵⁾| T: C E Longsdon| OR: 107| BF| D

7/1

Changed tactics on his first two runs for this trainer appeared to bring about some improvement and he scored second time out when making all at Ludlow off a mark of 102. Produced a laboured effort when last seen and now returns from a break looking to get back on track.

Form: 824-21P

Riverside City⁶³

Age: 9| Weight: 12-2| J: Jonjo O'Neill Jr.⁽⁷⁾| T: J & A O'Neill| OR: 107| D

8/1

Looked to lose his way when with Gordon Elliott (always proved unreliable) but did look as though he might offer something to work on for his current yard on debut after a break. That proved to be a false dawn and his last two starts have been disappointing; still has lots to prove.

Form: 6F9-5P8

Hepijeu^p²⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: M D Grant| T: G Deacon| OR: 103| C

9/1

Always looks best from the front and won here over shorter when with his previous stable although that did come off a career low mark. Not hard to have doubts about him over this trip though on his second start for this yard and may well face competition for the lead here.

Form: 254222

Dylanseoghan³⁶

Age: 9| Weight: 11-3| J: T Dowling⁽⁵⁾| T: Miss Z C Davison| OR: 94| D

3/1

Has won in point-to-points and although he looks fairly modest over fences he may well improve again in this sphere. Ran his best race to date last time out at Leicester over a similar trip and not ruled out here off the same mark.

Form: 45P/P3-2

What Larks^p¹⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 10-9| J: Conor Ring⁽³⁾| T: Dr J R J Naylor| OR: 86| D

14/1

Was at one time a fair chaser but looks to have lost his way and shown very little to recommend support in his two outings for this yard. Handicapper has cut him some real slack (down 7lb in one hit) but still makes little appeal.

Form: F05-PP4

Global Domination^p²⁶

Age: 10| Weight: 10-8| J: Harry Skelton| T: Mrs Caroline Bailey| OR: 85| D

11/4

Came into his reappearance run after 23 months off on a hat-trick and shaped as if he retained all his former ability which had seen him win handicaps off marks of 82/89. Went backwards from his penultimate run last time (first-time cheekpieces) but back below his last winning mark and not totally given up on.

Form: 6211/63

Over My Head^t¹⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 10-0| J: J M Quinlan| T: Miss C Dyson| OR: 72| D

17/2

Losing run now dates back to December 2013 although he ran well back from a break over C&D last time when headed close home. He may well have needed that run so despite the losing run it's possible to mark up that effort and given a chance even from out of the handicap.

Form: 45263-2

Tommy The Rascal^p²⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: David Noonan| T: J Candlish| OR: 71| C

17/2

Not the most straightforward and hasn't won since he was successful here in November 2016 over slightly further off a lowly mark of 69 in a handicap hurdle. 0/10 over fences though and has looked very awkward in his last three starts; not one to rely on.

Form: 32-5553

Forecasts

Global Domination (11/4), Dylanseoghan (3/1), Fly Home Harry (7/1), Riverside City (8/1), Tommy The Rascal (17/2), Over My Head (17/2), Hepijeu (9/1), What Larks (14/1)

Only a fairly low grade contested which may well see a contested lead and that could hinder the chances of leading candidates like Flyhome Harry and Hepijeu with the latter looking vulnerable over trips such as this. GLOBAL DOMINATION disappointed last time but that was on his second run back from a long break and he’s given a chance to atone off a suitable mark. Over My Head ran well here last time out and in such a lowly race as this he could again be competitive despite being out of the handicap.