188Bet Extra Places At Cheltenham Friday 'Jumpers' Bumper' NH Flat Race

Off time: 16:55 | Winning time: 3m 50.30s

Ballyvic Boru²⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Danny Cook| T: B Ellison| D

11/10

Had the required tactical nous to beat Beyond The Clouds in a Musselburgh bumper in February 2017, and has progressed to win over hurdles. Kept very quiet since July 2017 (just the sole start), but should force the early pace.

Form: 1213-15

Captain Mowbray^p³⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: Nathan Moscrop⁽⁵⁾| T: R Menzies

5/1

Deservedly broke his duck after a remarkable late recovery by Tony Kelly at Wetherby in December (3m soft). Has twice run well since, including at Doncaster latest when finishing 7½L third to Shanroe In Milan (3m).

Form: F25133

Stay In Touch⁸⁵

Age: 7| Weight: 11-4| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr

4/1

Bought for £17,000 out of the Irish point-to-point scene in June 2017, and probably capable of better than he's shown under rules so far. Finished a respectable third at Sedgefield latest (2m4f), and has more to offer.

Form: 1U8743

Wor Verge⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-4| J: James Corbett⁽⁵⁾| T: S Corbett

8/1

Finished a well beaten third in a C&D bumper last Saturday, but that was a step in the right direction, and this race is another building block in his development.

Form: 873

It's All About Me²⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-11| J: Joe Colliver| T: Micky Hammond

8/1

Shown a reasonable, but not ultra competitive level of form in bumpers, finishing a held fourth to Bournville (runs in the opener) over C&D latest. More interesting once switched to low grade handicap hurdles.

Form: 6/33-4

Lots Ov⁸⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 10-3| J: G Lee| T: J S Wainwright

16/1

Rock Of Gibraltar filly who is evidently no great shakes, but to her credit she's improving with racing. Absent since running at Wetherby in early December, when finishing 5¾L fourth to Kuragina.

Form: 0044

Forecasts

Ballyvic Boru (11/10), Stay In Touch (4/1), Captain Mowbray (5/1), It's All About Me (8/1), Wor Verge (8/1), Lots Ov (16/1)

Entirely possible that Danny Cook will keep this simple and seek to make all on Ballyvic Boru, and assuming that he's anywhere near his best level of form in bumpers, he should be taking this race with relative ease. However, for whatever reason, he's not seen too much competitive action since July 2017, and this race might be more about the future than the present. Therefore, we'll seek an alternative, and the horse who springs into mind is STAY IN TOUCH. Truthfully, he looks more of a stayer, but could prove well suited by an end to end gallop (a distinct possibility), and with the suspicion that he's better than we've seen so far in England, he's the token suggestion.