188Bet Up To 75 Cash Bonus Handicap Chase

Off time: 15:47 | Winning time: 9m 58.10s

Portrait King^v¹⁹

Age: 13| Weight: 12-3| J: A W Short⁽⁵⁾| T: P Griffin| OR: 125

13/2

Eider Chase regular; 2012 winner and also finished third in 2016 and 2018, beaten 20L by the Nicky Richards trained Baywing last month. A fantastic servant to his connections, and he sneaks in here off top-weight in a lesser contest.

Form: 2P5643

Point The Way^p²⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Danny Cook| T: B Ellison| OR: 120| C

4/1

Fair to say he's not proved as efficient over fences as hurdles just yet despite a positive start at Kelso in October (3m gd). That said; he finished 17¼L third to I Just Know in the North Yorkshire National in January (3m6f), and is 4lb lower here.

Form: 5-13534

Itstimeforapint^b,t³⁴

Age: 10| Weight: 11-12| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 120| CD

10/3

Marathon trip regular who was a ¾L winner of this contest in 2016 (heavy), also competitively contesting the Borders and North Yorkshire Nationals the following campaign. Back to form with a game Bangor success latest (3m6f). Up 5lb.

Form: 23P-6P1

Kilcullen Flem^p³³

Age: 8| Weight: 11-10| J: A Nicol| T: P A Kirby| OR: 118| C

7/1

Made a winning start for this in-form trainer when ploughing through the mud for an all out 3L, 3m course success in October. Pulled up on his belated return last month (lost both hind shoes) and stamina to prove; yet respected.

Form: P144-1P

Millicent Silver^v¹⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 11-4| J: Alain Cawley| T: N & W Twiston-Davies| OR: 112

3/1

Beaten just a neck by Kingswell Theatre in the Devon National at Exeter in February 2017, so she has the 'form' for these races. Poor since, admittedly well outclassed in the Eider latest, so plenty to prove.

Form: PP-54PU

Finaghy Ayr^p³²

Age: 10| Weight: 10-11| J: Henry Brooke| T: I A Duncan| OR: 105

9/2

Prominent when falling at the 17th in this race in 2017 (15/8f) so we can't say definitively that he'll stay 4m. Nevertheless, is a rock-solid 3m stayer in deep ground and lost nothing in defeat to subsequent winner Smuggler's Stash latest (3m Ayr).

Form: FP-5122

Forecasts

Millicent Silver (3/1), Itstimeforapint (10/3), Point The Way (4/1), Finaghy Ayr (9/2), Portrait King (13/2), Kilcullen Flem (7/1)

Hexham returns from it's winter hiatus, but with significant snowfall and plenty of rain earlier in the month conditions will be as testing as ever for the 4-miler, with the potential for a race which will take fast approaching 10 minutes to run. The majority of these have the required attributes to handle a slog including the 2012 Eider Chase winner Portrait King. Itstimeforapint was a game ¾L winner of this contest in 2016, whilst Kilcullen Flem has a chance for the in-form Phil Kirby based upon his November 3m success. However, 2017 race favourite FINAGHY AYR lost little in defeat to a subsequent winner at Ayr latest, and receives weight from all of his rivals.