14:30 Catterick

Wednesday 24 January 2018

All13:2013:5514:3015:0015:3516:05

Bet At racinguk.com Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 14:30 | Winning time: 5m 4.56s

Zeroeshadesofgrey^b¹⁸

Age: 9| Weight: 11-12| J: T E Whelan| T: N B King| OR: 131| C

3/1

Not really made the grade over fences, so back over hurdles of late, and hit the frame at Wincanton (2m5f+ heavy) earlier this month; beaten just under 3L by Head To The Stars. Up 2lb, so marginally more required.

Form: 23P-563

Beeno^h²³

Age: 9| Weight: 11-11| J: Robert Hogg⁽⁷⁾| T: Kenneth Slack| OR: 130

6/1

Notched a summer hat-trick over timber at Cartmel seeing his handicap mark rise 26lb as a result. Anything but disgraced at Kelso (2m, good) in Class 2 handicap in September, but tailed off at Musselburgh latest, and that leaves him vulnerable here.

Form: 411125

Jimmy Breekie³⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-11| J: A E Lynch| T: S R B Crawford| OR: 130

10/1

Solid as a novice during the spring/summer months of 2017 (2m4f winner at Perth, and a 2m4f runner up at Aintree). Struggled a fraction since going handicapping with further improvement not yet forthcoming off this kind of mark.

Form: 126436

Sakhee's City^p⁴⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: A Nicol| T: P A Kirby| OR: 125| C

4/1

Has shown his best form over 2m with cut (but appears to stay further). Better than his career win ratio implies (1 from 18), regularly finding just one horse sharper, as was the case at Wetherby latest (2m) when beaten 6L by Aristo Du Plessis.

Form: 2734-42

Apterix²³

Age: 8| Weight: 11-6| J: C R King| T: B Ellison| OR: 125| D

16/1

Hasn't scored over hurdles since March 2016, but to his credit, he did manage three victories over fences last season (2m to 2m3f+). Lost his action on his most recent start at Musselburgh on New Years Day, so well-being a minor concern.

Form: 16-036P

Always Resolute²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-6| J: Henry Brooke| T: B Ellison| OR: 125| C

12/1

Fairly useful on the Flat, and was an easy 13L winner over 2m at this track (maiden) on his hurdles debut in December 2015. Fair to say that things haven't quite progressed as planned over timber since, but reasonably handicapped now off 125.

Form: F428/66

Dedigout^p,t¹¹

Age: 12| Weight: 11-4| J: Joe Colliver| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 123

25/1

Useful in his pomp but has been woefully out of sorts since leaving Gordon Elliott. Well into the veteran stage now, so needs the assistance of the handicapper (dropped 17lb in two starts) in order to prove more competitive.

Form: 4P-PP88

Silva Eclipse¹¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-3| J: Danny Cook| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 122

9/4

Proved himself a fair Flat handicapper (rated in the high 70's), and made a winning start over hurdles at Hexham in September (2m heavy) with a decisive 9L success. Left Jedd O'Keeffe afterwards, and twice a runner up since. Handicap debut.

Form: 122

Forecasts

Silva Eclipse (9/4), Zeroeshadesofgrey (3/1), Sakhee's City (4/1), Beeno (6/1), Jimmy Breekie (10/1), Always Resolute (12/1), Apterix (16/1), Dedigout (25/1)

Competitive, of that there's no doubt, but perhaps not as strong a race as one might have anticipated for the grade. Zeroshadesofgrey didn't take to fences, but has done okay from a falling mark back over hurdles, and comes into the reckoning following a decent effort at Wincanton, whilst Sakhee's City is upped in trip in a bid to break a frustrating career profile of 'seconditis'. However, this can go the way of one of the lesser exposed runners. Silva Eclipse makes his handicap debut off the back of a couple of good efforts since switched to Sue Smith and should have more to offer, but a chance is taken on the Brian Ellison trained ALWAYS RESOLUTE. He hasn't exactly thrived over timber since bolting up in a 2m maiden here (debut) in December 2015, but his handicap mark is on a steady downward spiral, and that should mean that he's much more competitive at decent odds in an open race.