Jennings Ford Transit Centre Novices' Hurdle

Off time: 17:20 | Winning time: 3m 47.1s

Weightfordave^t⁴³

Age: 6| Weight: 11-4| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton| OR: 118| BF

4/1

Underwent wind surgery before making his debut for his current yard. Has mostly been a revelation ever since. Has to give weight away all round and may find the concession of 7lb to Kuiper Belt a tough ask. Has to be respected as a player though.

Form: 85-2F13

Chanceanotherfive³⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 10-12| J: B S Hughes| T: K Dalgleish

4/1

Winner of a point-to-point before being thought good enough to take his chance in last season's Champion Bumper at Aintree. More to come but does need to build dramatically on last month's hurdling debut at Perth.

Form: 11120-4

Coolgreine^t1¹²

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Joe Colliver| T: Jedd O'Keeffe

50/1

Failed to complete in two point-to-points and also pulled up on his Rules debut at Market Rasen earlier in the month. The fitting of a tongue tie may help but there is a lot of guesswork involved in giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Form: UPP

Psychology^p1,t²⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Alison Clarke⁽⁷⁾| T: Kenny Johnson

125/1

A maiden under both codes and very hard to see the gelding having much impact here if his debut run over hurdles is a true indicator of where he's at just now. Very hard to fancy from a punting perspective.

Form: 00/P

Kuiper Belt^t¹⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 10-11| J: R Johnson| T: G Elliott| OR: 113

4/9

Unbeaten since joining a high-profile trainer (won twice on the Flat and once over hurdles) and is a typically well-placed raider from the yard. Speed on the level combined with the jockey booking and light racing weight make him the one to beat.

Form: 00P-821

Starshell⁴³

Age: 4| Weight: 10-11| J: Lorcan Murtagh⁽⁵⁾| T: F P Murtagh

100/1

Needs to improve a fair bit on his sole start over hurdles if he's going to get involved in the thick of the action here. Has had wind surgery since his last start over hurdles but form on the Flat has been unconvincing.

Form: 9-

Forecasts

Kuiper Belt (4/9), Weightfordave (4/1), Chanceanotherfive (4/1), Coolgreine (50/1), Starshell (100/1), Psychology (125/1)

Hard to escape the claims of KUIPER BELT, who has all the ticks in the right boxes and looks very much the safest option in a weak event. Weightfordave has done well since joining his current trainer and might be able to provide the selection with the sternest challenge if the concession of weight doesn't become too much of a factor on the anticipated ground. Chanceanotherfive has improvement to find but is still probably the best of the rest.