16:25 Newcastle

Saturday 30 June 2018

All12:2012:5513:3014:0514:4015:1515:5016:25

Britcon Handicap

Off time: 16:26 | Winning time: 2m 13.41s

(12)

Garrick¹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: N Mackay| T: J & T Gosden| OR: 87| C

7/4

Made a winning debut here over 1m (February 2017) and has developed into a consistent handicapper over this trip on turf, going down narrowly at Windsor (good to firm) latest; up 3lb and respected.

Form: 172-32

(9)

Light Of Joy²⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 9-8| J: Fran Berry| T: D R Lanigan| OR: 86| CD

3/1

Filly on the up having recorded back-to-back wins, including over C&D this month (2/1f) when beating Copper Baked by 1½L; up 4lb and now meeting colts and geldings, but still expected to figure prominently.

Form: 4493-11

(4)

Trading Punches²⁴

Age: 4| Weight: 9-7| J: P J McDonald| T: D H Brown| OR: 85

11/1

No win since September 2016 (7f), and was a shade below-par at Kempton (1m4f) earlier this month; drop back in trip favourable with his previous 1L C&D second to subsequent Beverley winner Extra Mile representing very respectable form.

Form: 789-228

(6)

Shanghai Silver¹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-6| J: R Winston| T: C Hills| OR: 84| CD

11/2

Made all off a steady gallop when winning on handicap debut over C&D in May, but has found the extra trip/handicap rise beyond his capabilities in two starts since; 2 from 5 on the AW but requires a career best effort.

Form: 641156

(1)

Lunar Jet²¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-5| J: D Allan| T: J Mackie| OR: 83| D

14/1

Kicked off the season with a neck win at Newbury in April (1m2f, good to soft) - third won since - but held off this mark in stronger races at Newmarket since (including behind Garrick); unexposed on the AW.

Form: 214-165

(5)

Taqwaa¹³³

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: D C Costello| T: Laura Morgan| OR: 82

50/1

Ex-Richard Hannon; 33/1 but ran well on stable debut at Chelmsford in January (1m2f) before finishing lame on his next start the following month; off since and returns in a competitive race.

Form: 3105/29

(8)

Keswick^t⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: Ben Robinson⁽³⁾| T: H Main| OR: 79| D

28/1

Ex-John Gosden trained 1m2f AW winner who was sold cheaply for £4,000 in September; tailed off on handicap debut at Ripon (1m1f) last month; down 2lb; trainer saddled a winner here on Thursday.

Form: 31-47

(3)

Testa Rossa^b⁷

Age: 8| Weight: 8-13| J: Phil Dennis⁽³⁾| T: J S Goldie| OR: 77| C| D

16/1

Course specialist, but has done the majority of his winning over the straight mile during the autumn/winter months; slowly dropping down the weights but found wanting in a 1m2f Class 3 handicap at Ayr recently.

Form: 130406

(10)

Rockwood^v¹⁶

Age: 7| Weight: 8-12| J: J Fanning| T: Karen McLintock| OR: 76| D

20/1

Versatile sort who goes on Tapeta as well as on turf; clobbered by the handicapper (up 13lb) after winning by 9L at Musselburgh (1m1f, good) on his penultimate start and most likely flattered by that winning margin.

Form: 774316

(11)

Spanish History⁷⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 8-11| J: S W Kelly| T: S Durack| OR: 75

20/1

Keen and made all when winning a 1m Windsor maiden by a neck in October 2017, but struggled on handicap debut back at the Thames-side track in April (heavy) and needs to show more on AW debut off a 75-day break.

Form: 6/21-9

(7)

Prying Pandora¹⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 8-4| J: P Hanagan| T: R A Fahey| OR: 68| C

22/1

Her course win (1m) came in a weak four-runner race in May 2017 (6/4f) and she's failed to hit the target in 14 starts since; no improvement for wind surgery and despite sliding in the weights needs plenty more in order to be competitive.

Form: 736735

(2)

Snookered²

Age: 4| Weight: 8-3| J: Gabriele Malune⁽⁵⁾| T: B Ellison| OR: 67| D

22/1

Two-time turf winner (1m-1m2f), but despite a decent run at Catterick in April (1m4f) hasn't quite fired since including when finishing just over 4L fifth of 14 to Frown in a slightly weaker race here on Thursday.

Form: 36-8295

Forecasts

Garrick (7/4), Light Of Joy (3/1), Shanghai Silver (11/2), Trading Punches (11/1), Lunar Jet (14/1), Testa Rossa (16/1), Rockwood (20/1), Spanish History (20/1), Snookered (22/1), Prying Pandora (22/1), Keswick (28/1), Taqwaa (50/1)

An interesting looking finale which could be fought out by the pair at the top of the handicap. Garrick represents a trainer with a fine strike-rate at Newcastle (John Gosden), and he is already a winner at this track himself (1m maiden), but the vote goes to the progressive filly LIGHT OF JOY. She's won both of her last two starts, including over C&D, with a 4lb rise in the weights not overly punitive for her latest 1½L success.