188Bet Up To 75 Cash Bonus Novices' Handicap Chase

Off time: 14:54 | Winning time: 5m 55.8s

Pinch Of Ginger^p¹⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 102

13/8

Finished out of the frame when reverting to hurdles here latest (3m1f), but had previously controversially broke his rules duck over fences at Bangor in early January (2m4f+ heavy). 3lb higher today, but with the North's top rider booked.

Form: 2-3F154

Asking Questions^t,v1¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-9| J: Harry Skelton| T: O Greenall & J Guerriero| OR: 99

3/1

Debuts over fences under rules wearing a visor, following some fair hurdles efforts. Consistent in the point-to-point field for his previous trainer, and was a winner of a 3m Tyrella maiden (good to firm) in January 2017.

Form: 082636

Mcginty's Dream^h,t³¹

Age: 7| Weight: 10-2| J: Grant Cockburn⁽³⁾| T: N W Alexander| OR: 78

11/2

Pulverised by the handicapper after winning decisively over 2m6f at Newcastle in January 2017 (hurdle). Started off okay over fences this season at Hexham (no match for Very First Time), but lacked fluency latest so therefore appears vulnerable.

Form: 45-8257

Mr Witmore^b¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Henry Brooke| T: Kenny Johnson| OR: 75

9/1

Very moderate both over hurdles and fences and still a maiden after 23 races. Hard to muster any enthusiasm whatsoever with regards his chances.

Form: 7335U4

Under The Red Sky^b¹²

Age: 11| Weight: 10-0| J: Alison Clarke⁽⁷⁾| T: Kenny Johnson| OR: 73

6/1

Similarly to his stablemate Mr Witmore, he's had plenty of chances of hitting the coconut shy, but has politely declined the opportunity. 0 from 28 under rules, and rather unconvincing attitude wise.

Form: 487325

Court Painter¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-0| J: Alex Chadwick⁽⁷⁾| T: V Thompson| OR: 72

20/1

Out of the handicap with recent form figures reading P,4,P, so this is more than enough to prove off-putting. That said; he's had less chances than a couple of these runners under rules (0 from 7), so that's a positive.

Form: 8-24P4P

Forecasts

Pinch Of Ginger (13/8), Asking Questions (3/1), Mcginty's Dream (11/2), Under The Red Sky (6/1), Mr Witmore (9/1), Court Painter (20/1)

A very modest contest, and realistically only a couple of these horses sport obvious winning chances. Pinch Of Ginger was awarded a much talked about race at Bangor in early January, but he's hardly rock-solid overall, although he mightn't necessarily need to be in this company, and he does have Brian Hughes booked to ride. However, we'll chance the Oliver Greenall trained rules chasing debutant ASKING QUESTIONS. He remains a maiden over hurdles (0 from 7), but is clearly effective on most types of ground, and is seemingly untroubled by racing over both 2m4f and 3m.