16:15 Perth

Thursday 17 May 2018

All14:0014:3015:0515:4016:1516:4517:1517:50

Timothy Hardie Diamond Pendant Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 16:15 | Winning time: 3m 48.49s

Excellent Result¹⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 11-12| J: Brendan Powell| T: R Spencer| OR: 125| D

11/2

Group 2 Flat winner who also holds an entry at Newmarket. His previous hurdle successes (novices) have come on good ground on right-handed flat tracks (Huntingdon and Kempton), so Perth should suit if electing to take his chance.

Form: 12012/5-

Raise A Spark^h³⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 11-11| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 124| D

17/2

Just headed when falling at the last in this race in 2017 (won by Caius Marcius), and should have benefited immeasurably from his sole start since at Ludlow last month (2m soft). Respected.

Form: 3134/F6-

Kelpies Myth¹⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-10| J: D R Fox| T: Miss Lucinda V Russell| OR: 123| D

5/1

Out of his depth in a strong race at Sandown latest (2m good to soft), but faced a difficult task in any case following a hefty rise in the weights for his earlier victories at Musselburgh and Carlisle (soft).

Form: 634110-

Alphabetical Order¹⁵⁹

Age: 10| Weight: 11-7| J: R Johnson| T: R M Smith| OR: 120| D

7/1

Hasn't seen much hurdles action since a productive novice season for Tim Vaughan. Been with various trainers since including David O'Meara (Flat), but off since early December and not even the booking of the Champion Jockey is enough to tempt.

Form: 311/323-

Morning With Ivan^t²²

Age: 8| Weight: 11-0| J: James Corbett⁽⁵⁾| T: S Corbett| OR: 113| CD

11/4

Has blossomed since joining this trainer, winning four of her six starts (2m-2m1f), including from a 5lb lower mark over C&D latest; beating Monfass by 2¼L. More needed on quicker ground, but every chance that she'll deliver.

Form: 112311-

Nendrum⁶²

Age: 9| Weight: 10-11| J: Alex Chadwick⁽⁷⁾| T: A M Thomson| OR: 110| BF| D

17/2

Posted an absolute stinker at Musselburgh in March, which came as a surprise following a most productive spell; so seemingly has plenty on to reverse placings with the winner Morning With Ivan. Possibly fresher after a short break.

Form: 731219-

Wot A Shot²⁷

Age: 9| Weight: 10-9| J: R D Day⁽³⁾| T: N G Richards| OR: 108| CD

7/2

Hit with a 10lb rise for his decisive Musselburgh victory in December (2m good), and that coupled with a four month absence probably just did for him at Ayr latest (fourth). Solid record at Perth since 2016 (1,2,2,P,4,1).

Form: P82214-

Non-Runners

Jet Master²²

Weight: 11-2| Age: 12

T: N W Alexander J: Lucy Alexander

Dakota Grey¹

Weight: 10-4| Age: 7

T: Micky Hammond J: Alain Cawley

Forecasts

Morning With Ivan (11/4), Wot A Shot (7/2), Kelpies Myth (5/1), Excellent Result (11/2), Alphabetical Order (7/1), Nendrum (17/2), Raise A Spark (17/2), Dakota Grey (10/1), Jet Master (14/1)

Not an easy race to assess with the inclusion of the top-weight Excellent Result (also declared to race at Newmarket). Raise A Spark looks like he has been targeted at this race after a pleasing, but ultimately fruitless effort in the 2017 renewal and should be cherry-ripe following a spin around Ludlow. Wot A Shot is a solid performer at Perth and will relish conditions, but we'll opt to look no further than the thriving mare MORNING WITH IVAN who continues to go from strength to strength for Otterburn handler Susan Corbett.