racinguk.com Beginners' Chase

Off time: 14:30 | Winning time: 4m 0.3s

Delire D'Estruval¹⁹²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: D A Jacob| T: B Pauling| OR: 135| BF| D

5/1

135-rated hurdler (2-9); beaten at short odds when last seen over timber at Kelso in April (2m2f, heavy), but far better than that form judged upon his earlier 2m Haydock Listed win (November 2017); GB chasing debut (0-2 in France).

Form: 413104-

Hawk High^p⁵⁵¹

Age: 8| Weight: 11-2| J: B S Hughes| T: T D Easterby| OR: 130| D

17/2

130-rated hurdler (4-17); off the track since finishing in midfield in the 2017 Scottish Champion Hurdle (Ayr); most effective on decent ground (good); noteworthy chasing newcomer if fit and ready to do himself justice off a 551 day absence.

Form: 593088/

Slanelough^h²¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 11-2| J: Craig Nichol| T: R Dobbin| OR: 130| BF| C

5/1

130-rated hurdler (2-12); narrowly beaten by Blottos (2m3f, heavy) here in February, but ended his hurdles campaign with a slightly low-key effort in March; stable yet to really fire this campaign just yet, but much respected on chasing debut.

Form: 723126-

Stowaway Magic^t1¹⁸⁰

Age: 7| Weight: 11-2| J: Harry Skelton| T: D Skelton| OR: 138| D

5/6

138-rated hurdler (3-9); versatile in terms of trip (2m-2m5f); ran a fine race when finishing a close up eighth of 26 in the Coral Cup at Cheltenham in March; has left Nicky Henderson over the summer; tongue-tied back over fences for Dan Skelton.

Form: 2/22480-

Treshnish²⁰¹

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Danny Cook| T: J Parkinson & S Smith| OR: 121| D

9/1

121-rated hurdler (2-6); regularly displayed a good attitude as a novice, but appears best served by a test of stamina (plenty of cut) over 2m trips; promising type, but this looks to be a tough introduction to chasing on disadvantageous terms.

Form: 213177-

Forecasts

Stowaway Magic (5/6), Delire D'Estruval (5/1), Slanelough (5/1), Hawk High (17/2), Treshnish (9/1)

A small but fairly select field, so a competitive race lies in store. Things didn't exactly go to plan for STOWAWAY MAGIC over fences last season for previous trainer Nicky Henderson, but his ability isn't in question and it's informative that the tongue-tie is now introduced by Dan Skelton. There's little doubt that a reasoned case can be made for any of his four rivals; albeit the Ben Pauling-trained Delire D'Estruval rates as the chief danger on known hurdles form and ratings. Slanelough (stable form), Hawk High (fitness) and Treshnish (grade) all have slight question marks against their respective names at present, but can win races over fences in time.