188Bet Mobile Novices' Chase

Off time: 15:00 | Winning time: 4m 59.5s

Divine Spear⁵⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-10| J: N de Boinville| T: N J Henderson| OR: 143

1/3

Taken out of a race over 2m½f at Ayr on Monday due to heavy ground and conditions here are much more to his liking. This race is more competitive on paper, but he has scope for a fair bit more improvement and will be tough to beat.

Form: 3225-11

Delegate^t⁷⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-4| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish| OR: 134| DWS

13/2

Won 1-6 over fences for Gordon Elliott and after a 19L defeat at Sedgefield on his debut for this trainer in November prompted wind surgery, he returns to the track. Trip/ground no problem, but will need to be on top of his game.

Form: 59-61P3

Derintoher Yank^h⁷⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: W T Kennedy| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 131| D

7/2

Consistent though frustrating from a punting perspective since going chasing, with one win and four seconds from five starts. Won a novices' hurdle over 2m4f, though best form has been over 2m. Will need improvement to beat the likely favourite.

Form: 711222

Court Painter²¹

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: Alex Chadwick⁽⁷⁾| T: V Thompson| OR: 75| D

200/1

Yet to make the frame from five attempts over fences. Best effort was when beaten 16L here over 3m last month, but that form is way short of what will be required to get involved at the business end in this race.

Form: U48-24P

Mr Witmore^b⁴⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 10-12| J: Alison Clarke⁽⁷⁾| T: Kenny Johnson| OR: 79

100/1

Has made the frame in three of his nine chases, though remains a 21-race maiden under rules. Best effort in a chase came at Hexham (1m7½f, heavy) in November but will need vast improvement on that.

Form: 887335

Forecasts

Divine Spear (1/3), Derintoher Yank (7/2), Delegate (13/2), Mr Witmore (100/1), Court Painter (200/1)

DIVINE SPEAR swerved the testing ground set for Ayr a few days ago to come here and he can take advantage of that to complete a hat-trick. Nicky Henderson's charge is a 20-1 chance for the JLT at next month's Cheltenham Festival and he has plenty going for him in this field. It remains to be seen whether wind surgery can help Delegate to improve, but he will need to if he is to threaten the top weight, while Derintoher Yank is very likely to be the one battling with him for the minors.