19:45 Chelmsford City

Thursday 24 May 2018

All17:4018:1018:4519:1519:4520:2020:50

Bet In Play At totesport.com Handicap

Off time: 19:46 | Winning time: 2m 2.91s

(1)

Emirates Flyer⁵⁰⁴

Age: 7| Weight: 9-7| J: George Wood⁽³⁾| T: S bin Suroor| OR: 104

4/1

Acclamation gelding, not spotted on a British racecourse since 2014 and was disappointing when last racing in Dubai in early 2017. Still only seven, so no forlorn hope and market should guide expectations today after 504 days off.

Form: 25032/6-

(4)

Petite Jack^b¹³

Age: 5| Weight: 9-5| J: L Morris| T: A Watson| OR: 102| CD

7/1

Listed winner at Lingfield in December 2017 and useful when everything drops right for him. Well held on turf at Chester recently and 8lb higher back on the AW.

Form: 21-6589

(5)

Dark Red^b¹³

Age: 6| Weight: 9-5| J: Edward Greatrex| T: E A L Dunlop| OR: 102| CD

4/1

Found only one too good in competitive Chester handicap over this trip 13 days ago, repeat of that effort will have him squarely in the mix again.

Form: 134-472

(3)

Pactolus^h,t¹⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-3| J: Tom Marquand| T: S C Williams| OR: 100| CD

10/1

All nine career wins have come on artificial surfaces, latest in November at Wolverhampton (1m1½f, rated 96). Was poor on turf recently, but no reason he won't bounce back and run well here.

Form: 322470

(8)

Frontispiece²⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 8-5| J: Josephine Gordon| T: Sir Michael Stoute| OR: 88| BF| D

9/4

Beaten favourite on reappearance at Sandown (1m2f, soft) likely to come on for that run and should give a strong account if taking to this new surface.

Form: 1/1327-2

(9)

Secret Art²⁸

Age: 8| Weight: 8-5| J: S De Sousa| T: W J Knight| OR: 88| C

9/1

Proven miler, won again over that trip at this track last month. This is a stronger contest and the fact he's unproven (one run) over this trip is off-putting.

Form: 400-301

(6)

Oasis Fantasy¹⁸

Age: 7| Weight: 8-3| J: J Quinn| T: D M Simcock| OR: 86

25/1

Ran poor race on return at Newmarket (1m4f, good to firm) this month, just 3-38 on turf and looks to be up against it on AW bow.

Form: 46396-0

(7)

Agent Gibbs²⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 8-2| J: David Egan⁽³⁾| T: J G M O'Shea| OR: 83| D

18/1

Runner-up in lower grade Wolverhampton contest last month. Doesn't appear to have great prospects on these terms against some useful rivals.

Form: 6411/42

Non-Runners

(2)

Sofia's Rock¹⁸

Weight: 8-11| Age: 4

T: C & M Johnston J: F Norton

Forecasts

Frontispiece (9/4), Emirates Flyer (4/1), Dark Red (4/1), Petite Jack (7/1), Secret Art (9/1), Pactolus (10/1), Agent Gibbs (18/1), Sofia's Rock (20/1), Oasis Fantasy (25/1)

DARK RED ran a fine race at Chester a fortnight ago when finishing second and a repeat of that effort might just see him home in front now in what is a competitive heat. Frontispiece has yet to run on the all-weather but there's no reason he won't handle this and he's got the form to be considered while Pactolus is proven in this sphere and can bounce back to form after a lesser effort on turf. The long-absent Emirates Flyer is an intriguing runner and must be noted while recent course winner Secret Art is in form but has a question to answer regarding stamina.