16:25 Plumpton

Monday 29 January 2018

All13:5514:2514:5515:2515:5516:25

Free Race Replays On attheraces.com Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 16:25 | Winning time: 4m 13.85s

Argyle^v⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 12-2| J: William Clarke⁽¹⁰⁾| T: G & J Moore| OR: 102

7/1

16-race maiden on the Flat / over hurdles, ran promising race over this trip at Lingfield in November on penultimate start but unable to back that up at Fontwell last month over further. Suited by drop in distance.

Form: 438-24

Cassivellaunus²²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Matthew Batchelor| T: D Steele| OR: 98

66/1

Form has steadily regressed since his bumper debut and he has shown nothing in trio hurdles runs, including last time over C&D (heavy), to suggest that he will spring a surprise here. Looks on to watch.

Form: 4/9-009

Briac²²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: Tom Cannon| T: M Pattinson| OR: 96| D

20/1

Well beaten in pair of C&D contests lately having reverted to hurdles from the Flat. Drops another 4lb today but still has major improvement to find to get competitive.

Form: 09/20-46

Be Daring^h²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: Harry Reed⁽⁷⁾| T: C Gordon| OR: 94| BF

11/4

Beaten when unseating rider over C&D early last month, though since run couple of promising races at Fontwell, latest going down narrowly in second off this mark in race won by Blue April. Rider takes off 7lb and strong chance of going one better.

Form: 474U52

Kastani Beach⁴²

Age: 12| Weight: 11-7| J: Kevin Jones⁽⁵⁾| T: J W Mullins| OR: 93| CD

16/1

Goes well here and has a C&D (heavy) win to his name, but is without success anywhere since March 2015. Beaten 10L here last month (fifth of eight), cheekpieces are back on now and eased 3lb.

Form: 368425

Flight To Nowhere^t²⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: L Heard| T: R J Price| OR: 90

7/1

Falling in the weights, but yet to hit the frame in nine starts. Best effort to date when fourth of 17 (beaten 7L) at Taunton this month of current rating. Repeat of that effort will see the mare in with a chance.

Form: 56-48F4

Blue April^v1²¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-3| J: Nick Scholfield| T: J Scott| OR: 89

7/2

Opened his account at the 15th time of asking when taking advantage of a career low mark and some modest company at Fontwell (2m1½f, heavy) this month. This looks tougher up 6lb although connections may hope for more to come in a first-time visor.

Form: P02-641

Drive On Locky^v1⁶⁴

Age: 11| Weight: 11-1| J: Mr Garry Lavery⁽⁷⁾| T: J Farrelly| OR: 87| C

12/1

Now 11-years-old and things have fallen apart for him since winning here in December 2016 (3m1f, good to soft). Recent form leaves him with a lot to work on, visor tried first-time now.

Form: 0-8F77P

Sixties Idol^b,t⁴⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-13| J: M Goldstein| T: Miss S West| OR: 85

16/1

0-23 and although he has made the frame here, he has been well beaten in all five runs at the track. Could give him a squeak of making the frame again based on his Fontwell run two starts back, but it takes a leap of faith to see him winning.

Form: 506725

Brother Norphin²¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-8| J: Daniel Sansom⁽⁷⁾| T: J W Mullins| OR: 80

9/2

Looks held by Blue April on Fontwell running where he also showed an awkward head carriage. That was his first run for this yard and followed a 10-month break so a market check is advisable now with improvement possible.

Form: PP805-3

Upham Running⁴⁹

Age: 10| Weight: 10-6| J: Page Fuller⁽⁵⁾| T: Mrs K A Buckett| OR: 78WS

33/1

Only success from 14 career starts came at Fontwell (2m4f, soft) way back in December 2014. Pulled up when tailed off last month at Fontwell on return from 561-days off, has undergone wind surgery subsequently but stiff ask again.

Form: 3/663P-P

Forecasts

Be Daring (11/4), Blue April (7/2), Brother Norphin (9/2), Argyle (7/1), Flight To Nowhere (7/1), Drive On Locky (12/1), Sixties Idol (16/1), Kastani Beach (16/1), Briac (20/1), Upham Running (33/1), Cassivellaunus (66/1)

Blue April produced a much-improved winning effort last time to score at Fontwell, just holding off the claims of Be Daring in doing so. With a healthy swing at the weights, the latter is likely to reverse those placings today. BROTHER NORPHIN was around 6l behind the pair of them on that occasion, making his seasonal reappearance and debut for this handler. He travelled with plenty promise before tiring late on and, from a lowly rating, could prove up to winning this with improvement likely on second start. Long-standing maiden Argyle and former C&D scorer Kastani Beach cannot be ruled out.