Starlight Children's Services Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle

Off time: 15:40 | Winning time: 3m 50.9s

Sao^h,t²¹⁷

Age: 4| Weight: 11-12| J: Lorcan Williams⁽⁶⁾| T: P F Nicholls| OR: 124| BF| D

9/1

Half-brother to the smart Frodon his three runs for this yard have all been spoilt by the fact that he won't settle and pulls too hard. Various tactics have been tried with the same result; on a reasonable mark if he does settle (handicap debut).

Form: F/1242-

Nylon Speed⁴¹

Age: 4| Weight: 11-11| J: Fergus Gregory| T: A King| OR: 123| D

9/1

Looks to have had his breathing problems rectified and that's led to him winning two of his last three starts; one on the AW and one over hurdles. Bumped into a smart one carrying a penalty at Huntingdon; now tries handicaps for the first time.

Form: 12

Mick Maestro³²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-9| J: Harry Teal⁽³⁾| T: A King| OR: 121| D

5/1

Bumper/hurdle winner for Tom George he shaped with promise on his recent stable debut (travelled well until a mistake 2 out). Raised 4lb for that effort but still looks on a decent mark given his novice form and leading candidate.

Form: 40-1342

Broughtons Admiral²²⁶

Age: 4| Weight: 11-8| J: Charlie Hammond| T: A Ralph| OR: 120| D

25/1

Fair sort on the Flat he's shown steady progression over hurdles before opening his account in March at Hereford. Ran well when last seen in a competitive Aintree handicap hinting that further may be needed to unlock his potential; back from a break.

Form: 54415-

Monday Club²

Age: 5| Weight: 11-2| J: Alan Doyle⁽⁵⁾| T: D J S Ffrench Davis| OR: 114| BF| D

11/4

Held his form well since scoring his only hurdles win at Uttoxeter off a 4lb lower mark in September; placed all three subsequent starts. This is slightly harder than his most recent start where he travelled well but just failed to finish the job.

Form: 231332

Fairway Freddy⁴^{(ex 7)}

Age: 5| Weight: 11-0| J: Rex Dingle⁽³⁾| T: N J Gifford| OR: 105

13/8

Hardly a surprise to see him well-backed on his handicap debut (comes from a good jumping family) with a sound gallop seeing him settle much better to record his first win by 7L. This is harder but looks well-in under a penalty in a bid to follow up.

Form: 389-51

Desiremoi D'Authie^h²³

Age: 5| Weight: 10-12| J: Harry Reed| T: C Gordon| OR: 110

16/1

Well supported on his initial outing for this yard he failed to match his previous form despite taking the runner-up slot. Given a break and returned to handicaps last time he ran poorly and would be one of the lesser lights here.

Form: 03-552P

Forecasts

Fairway Freddy (13/8), Monday Club (11/4), Mick Maestro (5/1), Nylon Speed (9/1), Sao (9/1), Desiremoi D'Authie (16/1), Broughtons Admiral (25/1)

An interesting end to the card which sets a few questions to be answered. Connections of Fairway Freddy are almost forced to run here such was the ease of his Wincanton victory and the handicapper will be looking to put him up more than his 7lb penalty here. Sao looks to have plenty of ability but pulls too hard to be trusted until he’s proved he can settle in his races. The Alan King pair both look to have solid chances with MICK MAESTRO (caught the eye at Ludlow on handicap debut) narrowly preferred to Nylon Speed who raced no easy task giving weight to the talented Denmead last time form that has been franked by the next time out wins of the 3rd and 5th.