17:40 Hexham

Saturday 16 June 2018

All14:1514:4515:2015:5516:3017:0517:40

Marie Curie Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 17:41 | Winning time: 4m 12.20s

Included^t³²⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 11-12| J: Sam Twiston-Davies| T: A Ralph| OR: 110| D

11/4

Back from 11 months off the track and has left David Dennis since finishing a distant third of six on handicap debut at Cartmel (2m1f soft); not obviously well treated.

Form: 313-

Newstart^p⁴²

Age: 7| Weight: 11-11| J: S Mulqueen⁽³⁾| T: K Scott| OR: 109| CD

11/1

Bought for £8,000 after winning a C&D seller for Brian Ellison last month (2m good); form that has been franked since. Well suited by a sound surface, so potentially a decent little purchase.

Form: 15263-1

Big Thunder^p²¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-9| J: Finian O'Toole⁽³⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 107| D

11/1

A six-time winner on the Flat (1m2f-2m) but not since leaving the care of David O'Meara. Unconvincing over hurdles so far (0 from 6) with the over-riding impression being that he doesn't relish jumping obstacles; trainer saddles three other runners.

Form: 63/R32-5

Bowie¹⁵

Age: 11| Weight: 11-9| J: Tom Broughton⁽⁷⁾| T: N Kent| OR: 107

25/1

Veteran who finished runner up off this mark over 2m2.5f at Market Rasen on Boxing Day (soft), but has disappointed since; probably needed his recent comeback run. Never won away from Market Rasen.

Form: 34029-0

Red Ochre²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 11-8| J: Callum Bewley⁽³⁾| T: C Grant| OR: 106

7/1

Now an 11-race maiden, but has done precious little wrong of late finishing runner up on his last two starts; beaten a neck over C&D latest by Mr Snoozy (runs at Aintree on Friday); up a further 1lb.

Form: 36352-2

Alexander The Grey^t⁴⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-7| J: Kielan Woods| T: D Killahena & G McPherson| OR: 105

8/1

14-race maiden who has shown no form in each of his last two outings; lost his action when pulled up at Warwick in May (2m good); unlikely winner.

Form: 54230-P

Wazowski¹³⁹

Age: 9| Weight: 11-7| J: B S Hughes| T: D McCain Jnr| OR: 105| BF| CD

10/1

C&D winner (novices) who is a hardy horse (one-eyed); off the track since late January when a beaten 2/1f at Sedgefield (2m5f soft) so can be expected to need this race on ground which is likely plenty quick enough.

Form: 334216-

Minella Fiveo⁵⁷

Age: 10| Weight: 11-6| J: K Yeoman⁽⁷⁾| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 104| D

13/2

Had wind surgery in the not too distant past, and returned to some sort of form with a well held 8L second to dual subsequent scorer Oskar Denarius at Southwell latest (25/1); up 2lb but is ground versatile.

Form: 964S42-

It's All About Me¹⁹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: Alain Cawley| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 96

80/1

Makes her handicap debut after three rather tepid attempts over hurdles; far from convincing in the jumping stakes and her trainer saddles three other runners.

Form: 3/440-77

Sense Of Urgency^h³¹

Age: 6| Weight: 10-9| J: Grant Cockburn⁽³⁾| T: Mrs L B Normile| OR: 93

16/1

Has bits and pieces of 2m bumper/novice hurdle form which implies that she should be capable of winning races from this mark; beaten just shy of 15L at Perth last month (2m good) on her first start since September 2017.

Form: 24240-4

Cherry Princess^t¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 10-6| J: Sean Quinlan| T: B Butterworth| OR: 90| CD

9/1

Seems to like this track with both of her hurdle wins coming over C&D; raised 8lb for her 5L defeat of Budarri last month and still sits at the right end of the handicap.

Form: 718P-31

Kisumu^p,t¹⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 10-2| J: Miss Becky Smith⁽⁵⁾| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 86

20/1

Like one of his stablemates (Calypso Delegator), he could come on for a recent Hexham run (same race), especially with a tongue tie applied. However, he's 0 from 29 during his career, so the percentage call is to oppose.

Form: P/37P-8V

Calypso Delegator^v⁹

Age: 5| Weight: 10-2| J: Jamie Hamilton| T: Micky Hammond| OR: 86

40/1

Entitled to need the run here in May, when finishing a never nearer seventh of 11 to Back To Balloo (2m good), but remains a maiden over hurdles (0 from 8) and tailed off back on the Flat latest.

Form: 0038-7V

Non-Runners

Mr Kite²⁷

Weight: 11-10| Age: 7

T: S Corbett J: James Corbett

Back To Balloo²⁵

Weight: 11-6| Age: 12

T: P Winks J: Ryan Winks

Forecasts

Included (11/4), Minella Fiveo (13/2), Red Ochre (7/1), Alexander The Grey (8/1), Back To Balloo (8/1), Cherry Princess (9/1), Wazowski (10/1), Newstart (11/1), Big Thunder (11/1), Sense Of Urgency (16/1), Mr Kite (16/1), Kisumu (20/1), Bowie (25/1), Calypso Delegator (40/1), It's All About Me (80/1)

Not difficult to build a logical case for a number of these runners including the C&D winners Back To Balloo, Cherry Princess and Newstart, and furthermore Minella Fiveo was beaten by a dual subsequent winner at Southwell in April, whilst Red Ochre seems to be getting ever closer to shedding the maiden tag so essentially a very difficult looking getting out stakes. Therefore, it takes a leap of faith to put up SENSE OF URGENCY as the selection; that said, she's surely capable from this sort of mark on her bumper/novice hurdle runs and a recent spin at Perth should see her much more competitive today off a handy 2lb lower mark.