16:00 Sedgefield

Friday 23 March 2018

All13:4513:5014:2014:5015:2516:0016:3017:05

Betfred Like Us On Facebook Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 16:00 | Winning time: 5m 25.32s

Lord Napier³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 11-9| J: S Bowen| T: P & M Bowen

4/9

Shaped encouragingly in a decent race at Kelso on hurdles debut in January and struck on his second start at Ludlow (2m soft) last month seeing off 15 other rivals. Penalised, but sets the clear benchmark.

Form: 51

Ask Jd⁴¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Craig Nichol| T: Mrs A C Hamilton

20/1

No joy in five starts in point-to-points (twice placed), but lines up race-fit for his rules/hurdles debut.

Form: 4F-522

Bafana Blue^t⁵¹

Age: 7| Weight: 11-2| J: Dale Irving⁽³⁾| T: M A Barnes| OR: 102

10/1

Had plenty of chances to break his duck and would be more interesting in a low grade handicap. His best effort came at Hexham in November (2m4f soft), when a comfortably held second to Niceandeasy.

Form: 46325P

Ballasalla^t1³⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr

13/2

€70,000 purchase and a full-brother to Grand National winner Ballabriggs. Not shown much promise over hurdles so far, and time might well prove to be his friend. That said; the first time tongue tie is applied, so we'll see how he fares.

Form: 8-960

Emerald Chieftan⁷⁵

Age: 8| Weight: 11-2| J: C O'Farrell| T: R Menzies

15/2

5L winner of an Irish maiden point-to-point in January (3m, heavy) and bought for £13,000 soon after. Half-brother to a 2m-3m hurdle/chase winner. Dam unplaced Flat/jumps and half-sister to seven winners. Locally trained at Sedgefield.

Form: P6P-41

Excalibur⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Finian O'Toole⁽³⁾| T: Micky Hammond

66/1

Jumped woefully on his UK/hurdles debut at Hexham last week (trainer saddled the runner up Cornerstone Lad). Hard to envisage how this two-time Polish Flat winner can better that effort in such a short space of time.

Form: 5

Goliath⁴⁵⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Callum Bewley⁽³⁾| T: K Dalgleish

16/1

£13,000 son of Golan who has left his previous trainer Tristan Davidson since his Ayr bumper debut in December 2016. Hard to know what to expect on hurdles bow, but surely will fare better in time for this trainer.

Form: 6-

Ivors Involvement²⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: A Nicol| T: Miss T Jackson

100/1

48-rated on the Flat, and only involved in the battle for rear division finishes so far over hurdles. Couldn't be considered as a result.

Form: 88

Phantom Isle²⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Henry Brooke| T: C Grant

25/1

Ran well enough in a bumper here in May 2017 (runner up), but disappointing so far over hurdles, and a recent wind operation brought about next to no improvement over 2m1f here latest (beaten 47L by Bulkov).

Form: 0-274

Lammturner¹⁶

Age: 6| Weight: 10-9| J: Danny Cook| T: Miss J E Foster

100/1

Second foal of an unraced full-sister to smart bumper/2m-2m4f hurdle winner Shinrock Paddy. Held up in the rear, when falling at the fifth on debut at Catterick earlier this month (100/1).

Form: F

Forecasts

Lord Napier (4/9), Ballasalla (13/2), Emerald Chieftan (15/2), Bafana Blue (10/1), Goliath (16/1), Ask Jd (20/1), Phantom Isle (25/1), Excalibur (66/1), Lammturner (100/1), Ivors Involvement (100/1)

Aghabullogue point-to-point winner Emerald Chieftan rates as an interesting rules debutante for local trainer Rebecca Menzies in a modest contest where plenty of the remainder have masses to prove. Ballasalla is a full-brother to 2011 Grand National winner Ballabriggs, but he's not shown much thus far and looks more of a horse for further down the line, so the confident selection is the penalised Ludlow scorer LORD NAPIER. The Bowen family tend to do well with their Sedgefield runners (3 from 16; 19% strike rate over the past five years), so it'll come as a major shock if he's not capable of following up that victory.