17:40 Huntingdon

Wednesday 14 March 2018

All13:4514:2515:0515:4516:2517:0517:40

188Bet Casino Standard Open NH Flat Race

Off time: 17:41 | Winning time: 4m 17.12s

Guiding Stars¹⁷⁷

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: S Bowen| T: H Whittington

10/1

Has had two runs almost a year apart and returns from another absence. Both have been on better ground than this and the form of his latest effort has taken some knocks. Yard 2-3 in bumpers at this venue.

Form: 0-2

Sam I

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: N P Madden| T: H Fry

4/1

First foal of a well-related dam and from a yard that have a 25% strike rate in bumpers. The market is usually informative with their runners in this kind of event.

Form:

Talk Of Monty⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Maxime Tissier⁽⁷⁾| T: L Wadham

66/1

Tailed off in two bumpers and hard to see why he should improve enough to threaten the principals in this.

Form: 00

Time For Another

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: M Hamill⁽⁵⁾| T: K Bailey & M Nicholls

5/1

€78,000 son of Shantou and half-brother to a winning hurdler and a winning point-to-pointer. Yard do well in this discipline and have had a couple go close in this contest previously.

Form:

West To The Bridge^h,t⁴⁴

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Bridget Andrews⁽³⁾| T: D Skelton| BF

5/2

Travelled like a dream last time and looked the likely winner until his rider lost an iron. Sets a fair standard, but looks a tricky ride and probably not one to take a short price about.

Form: D82

Gamekeeper Bill⁹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 10-8| J: J M Quinlan| T: A Bailey

40/1

Has regressed with each start culminating in a particularly poor effort last time. This is less competitive but he still has a lot to find.

Form: 570

Kala Noire

Age: 4| Weight: 10-8| J: James Davies| T: S Thomas

14/1

€15,000 son of Kalanisi out of a mare who was placed in point-to-points but achieved little under rules. Yard have had a recent bumper winner and market support would arouse interest.

Form:

That's A Given

Age: 4| Weight: 10-8| J: T J O'Brien| T: P Hobbs & J White

9/4

Yard 3-7 in bumpers here over past five seasons. Half-brother to Wait For Me who has done so well for this yard and who landed a bumper on his debut.

Form:

Forecasts

That's A Given (9/4), West To The Bridge (5/2), Sam I (4/1), Time For Another (5/1), Guiding Stars (10/1), Kala Noire (14/1), Gamekeeper Bill (40/1), Talk Of Monty (66/1)

West To The Bridge has the pick of the form from those to have raced but could prove vulnerable to one of the newcomers. Harry Fry has a good record in this discipline so Sam I has to go on the shortlist with decent Flat bloodlines in the pedigree. Time For Another is the most expensive of these and represents powerful connections. As a son of Shantou the conditions will not be an issue and the market will tell us more. Philip Hobbs' team are beginning to emerge from a quiet spell and THAT'S A GIVEN. is selected to emulate his half-brother Wait For Me and make a successful racecourse debut.