17:40 Towcester

Friday 27 April 2018

All16:4017:1017:4018:1518:5019:2019:55

Miss Lillies Florist Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 17:41 | Winning time: 6m 4.0s

Bertie Barnes¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 11-12| J: Thomas Bellamy| T: R T Phillips| OR: 100| D

10/3

Not the most consistent, but hard to fault his Kempton win last time for which he has been raised 8lb for his troubles. Plenty of weight but certainly a player if on a going day.

Form: 582-001

Pinch Of Ginger^b1⁵⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-8| J: W T Kennedy| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 96| BF

4/1

Raced mainly over fences this term winning at Bangor in January. Switches back to timber now and wears first time blinkers. Trip and ground are fine and looks feasibly handicapped in an open contest.

Form: 3F1544

Amble Inn³²

Age: 6| Weight: 11-1| J: Graham Carson⁽¹⁰⁾| T: A Carson| OR: 89

14/1

Yet to reach a place in seven starts so far and needs to find considerable improvement on this handicap debut to get into the reckoning. Young rider's 10lb allowance won't hurt but others are preferred.

Form: 0564-56

Grays Choice¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-6| J: James Davies| T: Henry Oliver| OR: 80

3/1

Won Ayr bumper for George Bewley two years ago but has shown little over hurdles or fences since then. Joined current yard in March and attracted market support on first outing at Chepstow last time when finished eighth. One to keep an eye on.

Form: 550-P58

Courtinthemiddle³⁷

Age: 7| Weight: 10-5| J: R Patrick⁽⁵⁾| T: D Faulkner| OR: 79| D

5/1

Sprang a 16/1 surprise at Kempton last spring but showed little spark on first run for 11 months when tailed off at Chepstow last month. Hard to get too excited about him unless betting tells otherwise.

Form: 79814-9

High Wheeler⁴⁷³

Age: 7| Weight: 10-5| J: Fergus Gregory⁽⁵⁾| T: C Fryer| OR: 79

6/1

Third in Market Rasen bumper a couple of years ago but has shown nothing in four outings since then over hurdles. Despite making handicap bow here it is hard to envisage him winning or troubling the principals.

Form: 537P70-

Blackwell Synergy¹²

Age: 12| Weight: 10-0| J: T J Phelan| T: Tracey Leeson| OR: 73

33/1

Won twice in 2015 off much higher mark but this veteran has mostly been on a downward spiral since then. Pulled up at Plumpton last time and doesn't have a great deal to recommend him.

Form: 0P486P

Waitinonasunnyday⁵⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 10-0| J: Philip Donovan⁽⁷⁾| T: M Blake| OR: 71

16/1

Has beaten just one horse in four starts under Rules and looks of little account. Fifth and last, beaten 125 lengths at Wincanton last month and appears to face a hopeless task.

Form: 60PP5

Non-Runners

Georgian Firebird³⁰

Weight: 11-7| Age: 8

T: B Leavy J: Alain Cawley

He Is Rosy¹⁸

Weight: 11-6| Age: 6

T: Mrs S Gardner J: Lucy Gardner

Phoenix Rock⁶⁴

Weight: 10-8| Age: 6

T: J & A O'Neill J: R P McLernon

Dirty Dexter¹⁹

Weight: 10-0| Age: 7

T: G Harris J: M Hamill

Thefriendlygremlin⁷

Weight: 10-0| Age: 10

T: Tracey Leeson J: Dave Crosse

Forecasts

Grays Choice (3/1), Bertie Barnes (10/3), Pinch Of Ginger (4/1), Courtinthemiddle (5/1), High Wheeler (6/1), Phoenix Rock (10/1), Amble Inn (14/1), Georgian Firebird (14/1), Waitinonasunnyday (16/1), He Is Rosy (16/1), Blackwell Synergy (33/1), Dirty Dexter (50/1), Thefriendlygremlin (100/1)

There is a lot of dead wood in this event and it may well pay to concentrate on top weights Bertie Barnes and PINCH OF GINGER. Both appear to have their quirks, but the former did it nicely at Kempton last time and has strong claims if able to produce a similar effort, while narrow preference is for the latter who has conditions in his favour and may be sparked into life by the aplilcation of blinkers. Unexposed He Is Rosy is not without hope, nor is Georgian Firebird, but a better display would not surprise from Grays Choice.